Shangguan Fangfang, Liu Tongran, Liu Xiuying, Shi Jiannong
Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Department of Psychology, Capital Normal UniversityBeijing, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
Front Psychol. 2017 Jun 22;8:1037. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01037. eCollection 2017.
Cognitive control is related to goal-directed self-regulation abilities, which is fundamental for human development. Conflict control includes the neural processes of conflict monitoring and conflict resolution. Testosterone and cortisol are essential hormones for the development of cognitive functions. However, there are no studies that have investigated the correlation of these two hormones with conflict control in preadolescents. In this study, we aimed to explore whether testosterone, cortisol, and testosterone/cortisol ratio worked differently for preadolescent's conflict control processes in varied conflict control tasks. Thirty-two 10-year-old children (16 boys and 16 girls) were enrolled. They were instructed to accomplish three conflict control tasks with different conflict dimensions, including the Flanker, Simon, and Stroop tasks, and electrophysiological signals were recorded. Salivary samples were collected from each child. The testosterone and cortisol levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The electrophysiological results showed that the incongruent trials induced greater N2/N450 and P3/SP responses than the congruent trials during neural processes of conflict monitoring and conflict resolution in the Flanker and Stroop tasks. The hormonal findings showed that (1) the testosterone/cortisol ratio was correlated with conflict control accuracy and conflict resolution in the Flanker task; (2) the testosterone level was associated with conflict control performance and neural processing of conflict resolution in the Stroop task; (3) the cortisol level was correlated with conflict control performance and neural processing of conflict monitoring in the Simon task. In conclusion, in 10-year-old children, the fewer processes a task needs, the more likely there is an association between the T/C ratios and the behavioral and brain response, and the dual-hormone effects on conflict resolution may be testosterone-driven in the Stroop and Flanker tasks.
认知控制与目标导向的自我调节能力相关，这对人类发展至关重要。冲突控制包括冲突监测和冲突解决的神经过程。睾酮和皮质醇是认知功能发展的重要激素。然而，尚无研究调查这两种激素与青春期前儿童冲突控制的相关性。在本研究中，我们旨在探讨睾酮、皮质醇和睾酮/皮质醇比值在不同冲突控制任务中对青春期前儿童冲突控制过程的作用是否不同。招募了32名10岁儿童（16名男孩和16名女孩）。他们被要求完成三项具有不同冲突维度的冲突控制任务，包括侧翼任务、西蒙任务和斯特鲁普任务，并记录电生理信号。从每个孩子身上采集唾液样本。通过酶联免疫吸附测定法测定睾酮和皮质醇水平。电生理结果表明，在侧翼任务和斯特鲁普任务的冲突监测和冲突解决神经过程中，不一致试验比一致试验诱发更大的N2/N450和P3/SP反应。激素研究结果表明：（1）睾酮/皮质醇比值与侧翼任务中的冲突控制准确性和冲突解决相关；（2）睾酮水平与斯特鲁普任务中的冲突控制表现和冲突解决的神经处理相关；（3）皮质醇水平与西蒙任务中的冲突控制表现和冲突监测的神经处理相关。总之，在10岁儿童中，任务所需的过程越少，T/C比值与行为和大脑反应之间越有可能存在关联，并且在斯特鲁普任务和侧翼任务中，双激素对冲突解决的影响可能由睾酮驱动。
