Greater activation of the response inhibition network in females compared to males during stop signal task performance

Alexandra Gaillard; Susan L Rossell; Sean P Carruthers; Philip J Sumner; Patricia T Michie; William Woods; Erica Neill; Andrea Phillipou; Wei Lin Toh; Matthew E Hughes

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112586

Greater activation of the response inhibition network in females compared to males during stop signal task performance

Behav Brain Res. 2020 May 27:386:112586. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112586. Epub 2020 Mar 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: agaillard@swin.edu.au.
² Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁶ Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Mental Health, Austin Hospital, VIC, Australia.

PMID: 32194187
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112586

Abstract

Previous neuroimaging studies have reported differences in regional brain activation between males and females during stop signal task performance, suggesting the presence of sex-linked differences in brain network organization of inhibitory ability. Despite a growing literature on sex differences during stop signal task performance, a consensus still has not been reached due to variations in task design and analysis methods. Due to these disparate findings we used up to date stop signal task methods to compare behavioral performance and associated brain activation between males and females using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging design. We observed that males were faster in inhibiting their responses, but females exhibited marked increased in stopping network activation, in addition to increased activation of the anterior insula and left amygdala. These findings suggest that males and females process stop signals differently.

Keywords: Amygdala; Cognitive control; Response inhibition; Right inferior frontal gyrus; fMRI.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Amygdala / physiology
Brain / physiology
Brain Mapping / methods
Cerebral Cortex / physiology
Executive Function / physiology*
Female
Humans
Inhibition, Psychological
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
Sex Factors