Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Apr;1(2):131-40. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2010.12.003.
Although there is great interest in identifying the neural correlates of cognitive processes that create risk for psychopathology, there is a paucity of research in young children. One event-related potential (ERP), the N2, is thought to index conflict monitoring and has been linked cognitive and affective risk factors for anxiety. Most of this research, however, has been conducted with adults, adolescents, and older children, but not with younger children. To address this gap, the current study examined 26 4-8-year-olds, who completed a cued flanker task while EEG was continuously recorded. We assessed whether the N2 was detectable in this group of young children and examined associations between the N2 and factors reflecting affective risk (e.g., reduced executive attention, temperamental effortful control, and temperamental surgency). We documented an N2 effect (greater N2 amplitude to incongruent versus congruent flankers), but only in children older than 6 years of age. Increases in the N2 effect were associated with less efficient executive attention and lower temperamental effortful control. We discuss the implications of these findings and consider how they may inform future studies on biomarkers for cognitive and affective risk factors for anxiety.
虽然人们对识别导致精神病理学风险的认知过程的神经相关性非常感兴趣，但针对幼儿的研究却很少。一种事件相关电位（ERP），即 N2，被认为是冲突监测的指标，并且与焦虑的认知和情感风险因素有关。然而，这项研究的大部分都是在成年人、青少年和年龄较大的儿童中进行的，而不是在年龄较小的儿童中进行的。为了弥补这一空白，本研究对 26 名 4-8 岁的儿童进行了研究，他们在进行线索化侧抑制任务时，连续记录了 EEG。我们评估了在这群年幼的孩子中是否可以检测到 N2，以及 N2 与反映情感风险的因素（例如，减少执行注意力、气质努力控制和气质冲动）之间是否存在关联。我们记录了 N2 效应（与一致相比，不一致的侧翼有更大的 N2 幅度），但仅在年龄大于 6 岁的儿童中。N2 效应的增加与执行注意力效率降低和气质努力控制能力降低有关。我们讨论了这些发现的意义，并考虑了它们如何为未来有关焦虑的认知和情感风险因素的生物标志物研究提供信息。
