Schedule of Events | Symposia

Differential Effects of Pubertal Hormones on Adolescent Activation During a Working Memory Task

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Attakias Mertens¹ (attakias.mertens@boystown.org), Katrina Myers¹, Delaney Sherman¹, Jordanna Kruse¹, Gaelle Doucet¹; ¹Boys Town National Research Hospital

The development of cognitive processes responsible for working memory (WM) are refined throughout adolescence. While previous fMRI research has found activation differences associated with age during WM tasks, there are less studies that assess the influence of pubertal hormones. This study investigated the impact of pubertal hormones (testosterone and estradiol) on brain activation during a n-back task, within males and females separately. The sample included 140 typically developing individuals (77 females). Hormonal levels were quantified through a saliva sample. We tested the differential impact of hormones between adolescents (12-17) and adults (18-25) on the brain activation for the 2back – 0back contrast, controlling for age. We found that only females had significant results for both hormones. In detail, the adolescent group had a positive association between estradiol and activation within the left precentral gyrus (pFWE=.042) and the left superior parietal lobule (pFWE=.017). Additionally, adolescent females showed a negative association between testosterone and activation within the right cerebellum crus I (pFWE=.021), the right insula (pFWE<.001), the left posterior cingulum (pFWE=.006), the left pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (pFWE=.026), and the left thalamus (pFWE=.002). Thus, adolescent females with higher levels of estradiol showed higher activation in regions involved in movement, spatial orientation, and WM; while lower levels of testosterone were associated with higher activation in regions involved in WM, speech production, memory, and motivation. These results suggest that adolescent females’ brain activation, during a WM task, is differentially affected by testosterone and estradiol compared to adult females.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Working memory