Cortisol involvement in mechanisms of behavioral inhibition

We studied whether baseline cortisol is associated with post‐error slowing, a measure that depends upon brain areas involved in behavioral inhibition. Moreover, we studied whether this association holds after controlling for positive associations with behavioral inhibition scores and error‐related n...

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Veröffentlicht in:Psychophysiology 2011-05, Vol.48 (5), p.723-732
Hauptverfasser: Tops, Mattie, Boksem, Maarten A.S.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We studied whether baseline cortisol is associated with post‐error slowing, a measure that depends upon brain areas involved in behavioral inhibition. Moreover, we studied whether this association holds after controlling for positive associations with behavioral inhibition scores and error‐related negativity (ERN) amplitudes that cortisol and post‐error slowing may share. Healthy female volunteers performed a flanker task. Cortisol was independently positively associated with post‐error slowing and the ERN, supporting hypotheses that cortisol is involved in behavioral inhibition. Additionally, cortisol mediated an association between ERN and more post‐error slowing, which suppressed a direct association between ERN and less post‐error slowing. The results are relevant, not only for researchers of behavioral inhibition, but also for researchers of the basic mechanisms of the ERN and post‐error slowing, and may bring those literatures together.
ISSN:0048-5772
1469-8986
1540-5958
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01131.x