Despite copious data linking brain function with changes to social behavior and mental health, little is known about how puberty relates to brain functioning. We investigated the specificity of brain network connectivity associations with pubertal indices and age to inform neurodevelopmental models of adolescence. We examined how brain network connectivity during a peer evaluation fMRI task related to pubertal hormones (dehydroepiandrosterone and testosterone), pubertal timing and status, and age. Participants were 99 adolescents assigned female at birth aged 9–15 ( = 12.38, = 1.81) enriched for the presence of internalizing symptoms. Multivariate analysis revealed that within Salience, between Frontoparietal – Reward and Cinguloopercular – Reward network connectivity were associated with all measures of pubertal development and age. Specifically, Salience connectivity linked with age, pubertal hormones, and status, but not timing. In contrast, Frontoparietal – Reward connectivity was only associated with hormones. Finally, Cinguloopercular – Reward connectivity related to age and pubertal status, but not hormones or timing. These results provide evidence that the salience processing underlying peer evaluation is jointly influenced by various indices of puberty and age, while coordination between cognitive control and reward circuitry is related to pubertal hormones, pubertal status, and age in unique ways.

中文翻译：

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青春期女性同伴评估期间的脑网络连接：与年龄、青春期激素、时间和状态的关联

尽管有大量数据将大脑功能与社会行为和心理健康的变化联系起来，但人们对青春期与大脑功能的关系知之甚少。我们研究了大脑网络连接与青春期指数和年龄关联的特异性，为青春期的神经发育模型提供信息。我们研究了同伴评估功能磁共振成像任务期间大脑网络连接如何与青春期激素（脱氢表雄酮和睾酮）、青春期时间和状态以及年龄相关。参与者是 99 名青少年，出生时年龄为 9-15 岁（= 12.38，= 1.81），因存在内化症状而丰富。多变量分析显示，在显着性中，额顶叶-奖励和扣带-奖励网络之间的连接性与青春期发育和年龄的所有指标相关。具体来说，显着性连接与年龄、青春期激素和状态有关，但与时间无关。相比之下，额顶叶-奖励连接仅与激素相关。最后，Cinguloopercular——奖励与年龄和青春期状态相关的连接，但与激素或时间无关。这些结果证明，同伴评价的显着性处理受到青春期和年龄的各种指标的共同影响，而认知控制和奖励回路之间的协调以独特的方式与青春期激素、青春期状态和年龄相关。