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Structural MRI studies have identified a link between cortical maturation and temperamental effortful control (EC), which is a trait-like risk factor for psychopathology during adolescence. However, little research has explored the underlying neural basis of EC in adults. We aimed to examine the relationship between EC and brain structure in young adults. High-resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from 27 undergraduates who completed the Adult Temperament Questionnaire-short form. The data were analyzed with SPM8 using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). A priori region of interest (ROI) analyses indicated that EC was positively associated with gray matter volumes in brain regions that included the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the left supplementary motor area, the right orbitofrontal cortex, the left anterior cingulate cortex, and the left superior and inferior parietal lobes. These results suggest that temperamental EC in young adults is related to variations in gray matter volumes, particularly within the frontoparietal attention network, and yield insight into the relation between the vulnerability to psychopathology and the neurobiological basis of individual differences in temperamental EC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Affective pictures elicit a larger theta ERS in adolescents than neutral pictures. [•] Distraction attenuates early affective modulation of theta ERS relative to simple viewing. [•] Adolescents undergo age-dependent changes in oscillatory brain reorganization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent research in adults has determined that late positive potential (LPP) is modulated by affective pictures. Here we investigated whether affective modulation of LPP reflects developmental changes during adolescence. Event-related potentials were recorded from 50 adolescents (11–17 years old) while they viewed 90 pictures of middle arousal level from the Chinese affective picture system. Consistent with previous studies in adults, affective pictures elicited larger LPP activities than neutral pictures over bilateral centroparietal sensors. Moreover, the LPP amplitudes varied as a function of age, increasing with age regardless of picture valence. These observations imply that adolescents exhibit affective modulation of LPP similar to adults, and undergo developmental changes in automatic attention to affective or non-affective pictures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]