1. Neural correlates of self- and other-referential processing in young adolescents and the effects of testosterone and peer similarity
- Author
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Miriam Hollarek, Nikki C. Lee, Peter A. Bos, Mariët van Buuren, Reubs J. Walsh, Hester Sijtsma, Lydia Krabbendam, Clinical, Neuro- & Developmental Psychology, LEARN! - Educational neuroscience, learning and development, IBBA, VU Faculty Research, and Clinical Developmental Psychology
- Subjects
Male ,Peer similarity ,Adolescent ,Brain activity and meditation ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Emotions ,Self ,050105 experimental psychology ,Peer Group ,lcsh:RC321-571 ,03 medical and health sciences ,Judgment ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neuroimaging ,SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being ,Cortex (anatomy) ,Similarity (psychology) ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Testosterone ,Association (psychology) ,Child ,Saliva ,lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry ,Neural correlates of consciousness ,Brain Mapping ,05 social sciences ,fMRI ,Brain ,Testosterone (patch) ,Medial prefrontal cortex ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Self Concept ,Adolescence ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Neurology ,Social Perception ,Posterior cingulate ,Female ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
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.
- Published
- 2020
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