title: To Stroop or not to Stroop: Sex-related differences in brain-behavior associations during early childhood.
abstract: Executive functions (EFs) are linked with optimal cognitive and social-emotional development. Despite behavioral evidence of sex differences in early childhood EF, little is known about potential sex differences in corresponding brain-behavior associations. The present study examined changes in 4-year-olds' 6-9 Hz EEG power in response to increased executive processing demands (i.e., "Stroop-like" vs. "non-Stroop" day-night tasks). Although there were no sex differences in task performance, an examination of multiple scalp electrode sites revealed that boys exhibited more widespread changes in EEG power as compared to girls. Further, multiple regression analyses controlling for maternal education and non-EF performance indicated that individual differences in boys' and girls' EF performance were associated with different frontal neural correlates (i.e., different frontal scalp sites and different measures of EEG power). These data reveal valuable information concerning sex differences in the neural systems underlying executive processing during early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Waterbury, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development & Family Studies, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Susan D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Calkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Martha Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D057190:Stroop Test
keywords: Children; EEG; Executive function; Inhibitory control; Sex differences