title: Influence of menarche on the relation between diurnal cortisol production and ventral striatum activity during reward anticipation.
abstract: Adolescence is characterized by an increase in risk-taking and reward-seeking behaviors. In other populations, increased risk taking has been associated with tighter coupling between cortisol production and ventral striatum (VS) activation during reward anticipation; this relation has not yet been examined, however, as a function of adolescent development. This study examined the influence of pubertal development on the association between diurnal cortisol production and VS activity during reward anticipation. Pre- and post-menarcheal girls collected diurnal cortisol and completed an functional magnetic resonance imaging-based monetary incentive delay task, from which we extracted estimates of VS activity during the anticipation of reward, anticipation of loss and anticipation of non-incentive neutral trials. Post-menarcheal girls showed greater coupling between the cortisol awakening response and VS activation during anticipation of reward and loss than did their pre-menarcheal counterparts. Post-menarcheal girls did not differ from pre-menarcheal girls in their cortisol-VS coupling during anticipation of neutral trials, suggesting that puberty-related changes in cortisol-VS coupling are specific to affective stimuli. Interestingly, behavioral responses during the task indicate that post-menarcheal girls are faster to engage with affective stimuli than are pre-menarcheal girls. Thus, post-menarcheal girls exhibit neurobiological and behavioral patterns that have been associated with risk taking and that may underlie the dramatic increase in risk-taking behavior documented during adolescence.
authors: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA and jlemoult@stanford.edu.
authors: Joelle
authors: J
authors: LeMoult
authors: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA and jlemoult@stanford.edu.
authors: Natalie L
authors: NL
authors: Colich
authors: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA and.
authors: Lindsey
authors: L
authors: Sherdell
authors: Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
authors: J Paul
authors: JP
authors: Hamilton
authors: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA and.
authors: Ian H
authors: IH
authors: Gotlib
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008572:Menarche / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012201:Reward; D066328:Ventral Striatum / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: adolescence; cortisol; reward anticipation; risk taking; ventral striatum