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Neural Correlates of Risky Sex and Response Inhibition in High‐Risk Adolescents
Author(s) -
Hansen Natasha S.,
Thayer Rachel E.,
Feldstein Ewing Sarah W.,
Sabbineni Amithrupa,
Bryan Angela D.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12344
Subject(s) - neurocognitive , psychology , stroop effect , condom , response inhibition , neural correlates of consciousness , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , neuroimaging , sensation seeking , cognition , neuroscience , medicine , social psychology , syphilis , family medicine , personality , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)
Adolescence is a neurodevelopmental period of heightened sexual risk taking. Neuroimaging can help elucidate crucial neurocognitive mechanisms underlying adolescent sexual risk behavior, yet few empirical studies have investigated this neural link. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the association between neurocognitive function during response inhibition—a known correlate of risk behaviors—and frequency of intercourse without a condom among adolescents. We examined the correlation between condom use and fMRI ‐based Stroop response in a large ethnically diverse sample of high‐risk adolescents ( n = 171). Partially replicating previous literature, sexual risk was positively correlated with blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent (BOLD) activation in the middle frontal gyrus during response inhibition, highlighting the relevance of this region during risky sexual decision making within this age group.