Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081, BT, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081, BT, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Neuroimage. 2020 Oct 1;219:117060. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117060. Epub 2020 Jun 16.
During adolescence, self-concept develops profoundly, accompanied by major changes in hormone levels. Self-evaluations become more complex, and peers and their opinions increasingly salient. Neuroimaging studies have investigated self- and other-related processing in adolescents, however, the influence of similarity of peers on these processes is still unclear, as well as functional connectivity underlying such processes. We investigated the effect of peer similarity on neural activity and connectivity underlying self- and other-referential processing, by distinguishing between a similar and dissimilar peer when making other-evaluations. Moreover, we explored the association between testosterone and brain activity during self-evaluations. Sixty-six young adolescents underwent functional MRI while performing a trait judgement task in which they indicated whether an adjective described themselves, a similar or a dissimilar classmate. The ventral medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) showed increased engagement in self-referential processing, and the posterior cingulate cortex and right temporal parietal junction during other-evaluations. However, activity did not differ between the similar and dissimilar other conditions. Functional connectivity of the ventral MPFC included the striatum when evaluating the similar peer and frontoparietal regions when evaluating the dissimilar peer. Furthermore, inter-individual differences in testosterone levels were positively associated with dorsal MPFC activity in males. This study provides insight into the influence of peer similarity on activity and connectivity underlying other-referential processing in young adolescents, and suggests that testosterone affects neural correlates of self-referential processing.
在青春期，自我概念会得到深入发展，同时激素水平也会发生重大变化。自我评价变得更加复杂，同伴及其意见变得越来越重要。神经影像学研究已经调查了青少年的自我和他人相关处理，但同伴相似性对这些过程的影响仍不清楚，也不清楚这些过程背后的功能连接。我们通过在进行他人评价时区分相似和不相似的同伴，研究了同伴相似性对自我和他人参照处理的神经活动和连接的影响。此外，我们还探讨了睾丸激素与自我评估期间大脑活动之间的关联。66 名年轻青少年在进行特质判断任务时接受了功能磁共振成像，在该任务中，他们表示一个形容词是否描述了自己、相似的同学或不相似的同学。腹内侧前额叶皮层（MPFC）在自我参照处理中表现出更高的参与度，在后扣带皮层和右侧颞顶联合区在他人评价中表现出更高的参与度。然而，相似和不相似的他人条件之间的活动没有差异。腹侧 MPFC 的功能连接包括评估相似同伴时的纹状体和评估不相似同伴时的额顶叶区域。此外，男性的睾丸激素水平与背侧 MPFC 活动的个体间差异呈正相关。这项研究深入了解了同伴相似性对年轻青少年他人参照处理的活动和连接的影响，并表明睾丸激素会影响自我参照处理的神经相关因素。
