Blair Clancy, Berry Daniel J
Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 246 Greene Street, Kimball Hall, New York, NY, 10012, United States.
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 E River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017 Jul;81:88-95. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.03.026. Epub 2017 Mar 31.
Lab-based experimental studies with humans and in animal models demonstrate that the relation between glucocorticoid (GC) levels and performance on measures of higher-order cognitive ability such as executive function (EF) is best described by an inverted U-shape curve. Moderate levels of GCs (cortisol/corticosterone) are associated with comparatively better performance relative to GC levels that are particularly high or low. Although findings from experimental studies are definitive and have high internal validity, the external validity of this association as an aspect of children's development is unknown. Here we analyze data from the Family Life Project (N=1292), a prospective longitudinal sample of children and families in predominantly low-income and rural communities followed longitudinally from infancy through age 60 months. Consistent with the prior experimental literature, we found evidence of an inverted-U relation. For children with relatively low cortisol levels, on average, between the ages 7, 15, 24, and 48 months, those illustrating moderate fluctuations in their cortisol levels over this span tended to show subsequently better EF performance at 60 months, than did children with either highly stable or highly variable temporal profiles. This curvilinear function did not extend to children whose cortisol levels were high, on average. These children tended to show lower EF performance, irrespective the stability of their cortisol levels over time.
基于实验室的人体实验研究以及动物模型实验表明，糖皮质激素（GC）水平与高阶认知能力（如执行功能，EF）测量指标的表现之间的关系，最适宜用倒U形曲线来描述。相对于特别高或特别低的GC水平，中等水平的GC（皮质醇/皮质酮）与相对较好的表现相关。尽管实验研究的结果具有确定性且内部效度高，但这种关联作为儿童发育的一个方面，其外部效度尚不清楚。在此，我们分析了家庭生活项目（N = 1292）的数据，该项目是一个对主要来自低收入农村社区的儿童及其家庭进行的前瞻性纵向样本研究，从婴儿期到60个月进行纵向跟踪。与先前的实验文献一致，我们发现了倒U形关系的证据。对于平均在7、15、24和48个月时皮质醇水平相对较低的儿童，在此期间皮质醇水平呈现适度波动的儿童，在60个月时往往比皮质醇水平高度稳定或高度可变的儿童表现出更好的EF能力。这种曲线关系并未延伸至平均皮质醇水平较高的儿童。这些儿童往往表现出较低的EF能力，无论其皮质醇水平随时间的稳定性如何。
