Developmental trajectories of prefrontal activation underlying emotional inhibitory control from adolescence to young adulthood: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

IF 2.9 2区心理学 Q1 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Behavioral and Brain Functions Pub Date : 2026-06-11 DOI:10.1186/s12993-026-00339-9

Tingting Chen, Lei Jiang, Rou Wen, Changhao Jiang

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Abstract

Background: Understanding the neural maturation of emotional inhibitory control (IC) from adolescence to young adulthood is critical but remains incompletely characterized. The present study examined age-related differences in prefrontal activation during emotional conflict processing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Methods: Twenty-six adolescents (ages 13-16, 15 male) and thirty young adults (ages 18-22, 16 male) completed an emotional Flanker task while behavioral responses and prefrontal hemodynamic activity were recorded with fNIRS.

Results: Both groups exhibited a significant emotional Flanker effect, with slower responses on incongruent than congruent trials. fNIRS results suggested age-related differences in prefrontal recruitment patterns. Adolescents showed relatively stronger O₂Hb changes in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), indicating a more right-lateralized response to emotional conflict. In contrast, young adults exhibited a more bilateral pattern of DLPFC activation.

Conclusions: These findings suggest a developmental shift from relatively focal, right-lateralized prefrontal engagement in adolescence to more distributed bilateral recruitment in young adulthood. Such age-related differences may reflect changes in cognitive strategies alongside ongoing maturation of prefrontal networks, with localized right-sided activation in adolescents supporting behavioral performance through compensatory engagement and bilateral recruitment in young adults reflecting greater network integration and neural efficiency.

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青春期至青年期情绪抑制控制背后的前额叶激活发展轨迹：功能近红外光谱研究。

背景：了解情绪抑制控制（IC）从青春期到青年期的神经成熟是至关重要的，但仍不完全表征。本研究利用功能性近红外光谱（fNIRS）研究了情绪冲突处理过程中前额叶激活的年龄相关差异。方法：26名青少年（年龄13-16岁，男性15岁）和30名青年（年龄18-22岁，男性16岁）完成一项情绪侧卫任务，同时用近红外光谱记录行为反应和前额叶血流动力学活动。结果：两组均表现出显著的情绪侧克效应，对不一致的反应比一致的反应慢。fNIRS结果显示前额叶招募模式存在年龄相关差异。青少年右背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）的O2Hb变化相对较强，表明他们对情绪冲突的反应更为右偏化。相比之下，年轻人表现出更多的双侧DLPFC激活模式。结论：这些研究结果表明，青春期前额叶相对集中，右侧参与到成年早期更分散的双侧参与的发展转变。这种与年龄相关的差异可能反映了认知策略的变化以及前额叶网络的持续成熟，青少年的局部右侧激活通过代偿性参与和年轻人的双侧招募支持行为表现，反映了更大的网络整合和神经效率。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Behavioral and Brain Functions 医学-行为科学

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： A well-established journal in the field of behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, Behavioral and Brain Functions welcomes manuscripts which provide insight into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying behavior and brain function, or dysfunction. The journal gives priority to manuscripts that combine both neurobiology and behavior in a non-clinical manner.