A theoretical distinction exists between the cool and hot aspects of executive function (EF). At the neural level, cool EF may be associated with activation in the lateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas the orbitofrontal cortex may play a key role in hot EF. However, some recent studies have shown that young children show activity in the lateral prefrontal regions during hot EF tasks, suggesting that the distinction between hot and cool EF may not be as marked. Nevertheless, few neuroimaging studies have directly examined the relationship between cool and hot EF. In this study, preschool children (N = 46, mean age = 66.1 months) were given both cool (Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) and Stroop-like tasks) and hot (delay of gratification) EF tasks, and neural activation during these tasks was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Correlational analyses and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to assess the relationship between cool and hot EF. At the behavioral level, a moderate correlation was found between DCCS and Stroop-like tasks, but no correlation emerged between cool and hot EF tasks. At the neural level, prefrontal activations during the cool EF tasks did not correlate with those during the hot EF task. Further, children showed stronger prefrontal activations during the DCCS tasks compared to the delay of gratification tasks. The results suggest that the neural basis of hot and cool EF may differ during early childhood.

中文翻译：

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幼儿冷热执行功能的关系：近红外光谱研究

执行功能 (EF) 的冷热方面之间存在理论上的区别。在神经层面，冷 EF 可能与外侧前额叶皮层和前扣带皮层的激活有关，而眶额皮质可能在热 EF 中起关键作用。然而，最近的一些研究表明，幼儿在热 EF 任务期间表现出外侧前额叶区域的活动，这表明热 EF 和冷 EF 之间的区别可能不那么明显。然而，很少有神经影像学研究直接检查冷和热 EF 之间的关系。本研究中，学龄前儿童（N = 46，平均年龄 = 66.1 个月）被给予冷（维度变化卡片分类 (DCCS) 和 Stroop 样任务）和热（满足延迟）EF 任务，并使用功能性近红外测量这些任务期间的神经激活光谱学（fNIRS）。进行相关分析和方差分析 (ANOVA) 以评估冷热 EF 之间的关系。在行为层面上，DCCS 和类 Stroop 任务之间存在中度相关性，但冷和热 EF 任务之间没有出现相关性。在神经层面，冷 EF 任务期间的前额叶激活与热 EF 任务期间的前额叶激活没有相关性。此外，与延迟满足任务相比，儿童在 DCCS 任务期间表现出更强的前额叶激活。