Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA; School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
Cortex. 2019 Aug;117:336-350. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.04.024. Epub 2019 May 17.
Adolescence is a period of heightened social engagement that is accompanied by normative changes in neural reactivity to affective stimuli. It is also a period of concurrent endocrine and physical changes associated with puberty. A growing body of research suggests that hormonal shifts during adolescence impact brain development, but minimal research in humans has examined the relationship between intra-individual changes in puberty and brain function. The current study examines linear and nonlinear changes in affective reactivity in a longitudinal sample of 82 adolescents who underwent three fMRI sessions between the ages of 9 and 18 years. Changes in response to affective facial stimuli were related to age, pubertal stage, and testosterone levels. Using multilevel modeling, we highlight extensive nonlinear development of socio-emotional responsivity across the brain. Results include mid-pubertal peaks in amygdala and hippocampus response to fearful expressions, as well as sex differences in regions subserving social and self-evaluative processes. However, testosterone levels exhibited inverse patterns of association with neural response compared to pubertal stage in females (e.g., U-shaped relationship with the amygdala and hippocampus). Findings highlight potentially unique roles of age, pubertal stage and testosterone on socio-emotional development during adolescence, as well as sex differences in these associations.
青春期是一个社交参与度提高的时期，伴随着对情感刺激的神经反应的正常变化。它也是与青春期相关的内分泌和身体变化的同时发生的时期。越来越多的研究表明，青春期的激素变化会影响大脑发育，但人类的研究很少检查青春期个体内部变化与大脑功能之间的关系。本研究在一个 82 名青少年的纵向样本中检查了情感反应的线性和非线性变化，这些青少年在 9 至 18 岁之间进行了三次 fMRI 测试。对情感面部刺激的反应变化与年龄、青春期阶段和睾丸激素水平有关。使用多层次模型，我们突出了整个大脑中社会情感反应的广泛非线性发展。结果包括杏仁核和海马体对恐惧表情反应的中青春期峰值，以及女性在参与社会和自我评价过程的区域中存在性别差异。然而，与青春期阶段相比，睾丸激素水平在女性的神经反应中表现出相反的关联模式（例如，与杏仁核和海马体呈 U 形关系）。研究结果强调了年龄、青春期阶段和睾丸激素在青春期社会情感发展中可能具有独特的作用，以及这些关联中的性别差异。
