Comparison of Functional Connectivity in the Prefrontal Cortex during a Simple and an Emotional Go/No-Go Task in Female versus Male Groups: An fNIRS Study

Nguyen, ThienCondy, Emma E.Park, SoonghoFriedman, Bruce H.Gandjbakhche, Amir H.2021-07-232021-07-232021-07-09Nguyen, T.; Condy, E.E.; Park, S.; Friedman, B.H.; Gandjbakhche, A. Comparison of Functional Connectivity in the Prefrontal Cortex during a Simple and an Emotional Go/No-Go Task in Female versus Male Groups: An fNIRS Study. Brain Sci. 2021, 11, 909.http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104371Inhibitory control is a cognitive process to suppress prepotent behavioral responses to stimuli. This study aimed to investigate prefrontal functional connectivity during a behavioral inhibition task and its correlation with the subject’s performance. Additionally, we identified connections that are specific to the Go/No-Go task. The experiment was performed on 42 normal, healthy adults who underwent a vanilla baseline and a simple and emotional Go/No-Go task. Cerebral hemodynamic responses were measured in the prefrontal cortex using a 16-channel near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device. Functional connectivity was calculated from NIRS signals and correlated to the Go/No-Go performance. Strong connectivity was found in both the tasks in the right hemisphere, inter-hemispherically, and the left medial prefrontal cortex. Better performance (fewer errors, faster response) is associated with stronger prefrontal connectivity during the simple Go/No-Go in both sexes and the emotional Go/No-Go connectivity in males. However, females express a lower emotional Go/No-Go connectivity while performing better on the task. This study reports a complete prefrontal network during a simple and emotional Go/No-Go and its correlation with the subject’s performance in females and males. The results can be applied to examine behavioral inhibitory control deficits in population with neurodevelopmental disorders.application/pdfenCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalbehavioral inhibitionemission errorcommission errorresponse timeinhibitory control deficitsconnectivity–performance correlationComparison of Functional Connectivity in the Prefrontal Cortex during a Simple and an Emotional Go/No-Go Task in Female versus Male Groups: An fNIRS StudyArticle - Refereed2021-07-23Brain Sciencehttps://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11070909