Self-regulation refers to the ability to monitor and modulate emotions, behavior, and cognition, which in turn allows us to achieve goals and adapt to ever changing circumstances. This trait develops from early infancy well into adulthood, and features both low-level executive functions such as reactive inhibition, as well as higher level executive functions such as proactive inhibition. Development of self-regulation is linked to brain maturation in adolescence and adulthood. However, how self-regulation in daily life relates to brain functioning in pre-adolescent children is not known. To this aim, we have analyzed data from 640 children aged 8–11, who performed a stop-signal anticipation task combined with functional magnetic resonance imaging, in addition to questionnaire data on self-regulation. We find that pre-adolescent boys and girls who display higher levels of self-regulation, are better able to employ proactive inhibitory control strategies, exhibit stronger frontal activation and more functional coupling between cortical and subcortical areas of the brain. Furthermore, we demonstrate that pre-adolescent children show significant activation in areas of the brain that were previously only associated with reactive and proactive inhibition in adults and adolescents. Thus, already in pre-adolescent children, frontal-striatal brain areas are active during self-regulatory behavior.

自我调节是指监控和调节情绪、行为和认知的能力，从而使我们能够实现目标并适应不断变化的环境。这种特征从婴儿早期发展到成年期，具有低级执行功能（如反应性抑制）和高级执行功能（如主动抑制）。自我调节的发展与青春期和成年期的大脑成熟有关。然而，日常生活中的自我调节如何与青春期前儿童的大脑功能相关尚不清楚。为此，我们分析了 640 名 8-11 岁儿童的数据，他们执行了结合功能性磁共振成像的停止信号预期任务，以及关于自我调节的问卷数据。我们发现表现出更高水平自我调节的青春期前男孩和女孩能够更好地采用主动抑制控制策略，表现出更强的额叶激活和大脑皮层和皮层下区域之间的更多功能耦合。此外，我们证明了青春期前儿童的大脑区域显着激活，这些区域以前仅与成人和青少年的反应性和主动性抑制相关。因此，在青春期前的儿童中，额叶纹状体大脑区域在自我调节行为期间是活跃的。我们证明，青春期前儿童的大脑区域显示出显着的激活，这些区域以前仅与成人和青少年的反应性和主动性抑制相关。因此，在青春期前的儿童中，额叶纹状体大脑区域在自我调节行为期间是活跃的。我们证明，青春期前儿童的大脑区域显示出显着的激活，这些区域以前仅与成人和青少年的反应性和主动性抑制相关。因此，在青春期前的儿童中，额叶纹状体大脑区域在自我调节行为期间是活跃的。