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Self-control is a core psychological construct for human beings and it plays a crucial role in the adaptation to society and achievement of success and happiness for individuals. Although progress has been made in behavioral studies examining self-control, its neural mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we employed a machine-learning approach-relevance vector regression (RVR) to explore the potential predictive power of intrinsic functional connections to trait self-control in a large sample (N = 390). We used resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) to explore whole-brain functional connectivity patterns characteristic of 390 healthy adults and to confirm the effectiveness of RVR in predicting individual trait self-control scores. A set of connections across multiple neural networks that significantly predicted individual differences were identified, including the classic control network (e.g., fronto-parietal network (FPN), salience network (SAL)), the sensorimotor network (Mot), and the medial frontal network (MF). Key nodes that contributed to the predictive model included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri, inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) that have been associated with trait self-control. Our findings further assert that self-control is a multidimensional construct rooted in the interactions between multiple neural networks., (© 2022 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Recent studies and reviews suggest that creative thinking is at least partly a domain-general cognitive ability, dependent on consistent patterns of brain activity including co-activation of the executive control and default mode networks. However, the degree to which the generation of ideas in different creative tasks relies on common brain activity remains unknown. In this fMRI study, participants were asked to generate creative ideas in both a uses generation task and a metaphor production task. Whole-brain analysis showed that generation of creative uses (relative to conventional uses) activated the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), medial prefrontal cortex, left supplementary motor area, left angular gyrus (AG), left thalamus, and bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe. The generation of creative metaphors (relative to conventional metaphors) activated dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and left AG. Importantly, regions active in both creative use and creative metaphor generation included the dmPFC and left AG. Psycho-physiological interactions analysis showed that the left AG was positively connected to the right precentral gyrus, and the dmPFC to the left IFG in both creative tasks. Our findings provide evidence that the generation of creative ideas relies on a core creative network related to remote semantic association-making and conceptual integration, offering new insight into the domain-general mechanisms underlying creative thinking., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand objective things, and use knowledge and experience to solve problems. Highly intelligent people show the ability to switch between different thought patterns and shift their mental focus. This suggests a link between intelligence and the dynamic interaction of brain networks. Thus, we investigated the relationships between resting-state dynamic brain network remodeling (temporal variability) and scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale using a large dataset comprising 606 individuals. We found that performance intelligence was associated with greater temporal variability in the functional connectivity patterns of the dorsal attention network. High variability in these areas indicates flexible connectivity patterns, which may contribute to cognitive processes such as attention selection. In addition, performance intelligence was related to greater temporal variability in the functional connectivity patterns of the salience network. Thus, this study revealed a close relationship between performance intelligence and high variability in brain networks involved in attentional choice, spatial orientation, and cognitive control., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Everyday creativity is the basic ability of human survival and penetrates every aspect of life. Nevertheless, the neural mechanisms underlying everyday creativity was largely unexplored. In this study, seventy-five participants completed the creative behaviour inventory, a tool for assessing creative behaviour in daily life. The participants also completed the alternate uses task (AUT) during an electroencephalography (EEG) assessment to evaluate creative thinking. Alpha power was used to quantify neural oscillations during the creative process, while alpha coherence was used to quantify information communication between frontal regions and other sites during creative ideation. Moreover, these two task-related quantitative measures were combined to investigate the relationship between individual differences in everyday creativity and EEG alpha activity during creative idea generation. Compared with the reference period, increased alpha power was observed in the frontal cortex of the right hemisphere and increased functional coupling was observed between frontal and parietal/temporal regions during the activation period. Interestingly, individual differences in everyday creativity were associated with distinct patterns of EEG alpha activity. Specifically, individuals with higher everyday creativity had increased alpha power in the frontal cortex, and increased changes in coherence in frontal-temporal regions of the right hemisphere while performing the AUT. It might indicate that individuals with higher everyday creativity had an enhanced ability to focus on internal information processing and control bottom-up stimuli, as well as better selection of novel semantic information when performing creative ideation tasks., (Copyright © 2022 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Many emotional experiences such as anxiety and depression are influenced by negative affect (NA). NA has both trait and state features, which play different roles in physiological and mental health. Attending to NA common to various emotional experiences and their trait-state features might help deepen the understanding of the shared foundation of related emotional disorders., Methods: The principal component of five measures was calculated to indicate individuals' NA level. Applying the connectivity-based correlation analysis, we first identified resting-state functional connectives (FCs) relating to NA in sample 1 (n = 367), which were validated through an independent sample (n = 232; sample 2). Next, based on the variability of FCs across large timescale, we further divided the NA-related FCs into high- and low-variability groups. Finally, FCs in different variability groups were separately applied to predict individuals' neuroticism level (which is assumed to be the core trait-related factor underlying NA), and the change of NA level (which represents the state-related fluctuation of NA)., Results: The low-variability FCs were primarily within the default mode network (DMN) and between the DMN and dorsal attention network/sensory system and significantly predicted trait rather than state NA. The high-variability FCs were primarily between the DMN and ventral attention network, the fronto-parietal network and DMN/sensory system, and significantly predicted the change of NA level., Conclusions: The trait and state NA can be separately predicted by stable and variable spontaneous FCs with different attentional processes and emotion regulatory mechanisms, which could deepen our understanding of NA.

Creative thinking is a hallmark of human cognition, which enables us to generate novel and useful ideas. Nevertheless, its emergence within the macro-scale neurocognitive circuitry remains largely unknown. Using resting-state fMRI data from two large population samples (SWU: n = 931; HCP: n = 1001) and a novel "travelling pattern prediction analysis", here we identified the modularized functional connectivity patterns linked to creative thinking ability, which concurrently explained individual variability across ordinary cognitive abilities such as episodic memory, working memory and relational processing. Further interrogation of this neural pattern with graph theoretical tools revealed both hub-like brain structures and globally-efficient information transfer paths that together may facilitate higher creative thinking ability through the convergence of distinct cognitive operations. Collectively, our results provide reliable evidence for the hypothesized emergence of creative thinking from core cognitive components through neural integration, and thus allude to a significant theoretical advancement in the study of creativity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

While a recent upsurge in the application of neuroimaging methods to creative cognition has yielded encouraging progress toward understanding the neural underpinnings of creativity, the neural basis of barriers to creativity are as yet unexplored. Here, we report the first investigation into the neural correlates of one such recently identified barrier to creativity: anxiety specific to creative thinking, or creativity anxiety (Daker et al., 2019). We employed a machine-learning technique for exploring relations between functional connectivity and behavior (connectome-based predictive modeling; CPM) to investigate the functional connections underlying creativity anxiety. Using whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity data, we identified a network of connections or "edges" that predicted individual differences in creativity anxiety, largely comprising connections within and between regions of the executive and default networks and the limbic system. We then found that the edges related to creativity anxiety identified in one sample generalize to predict creativity anxiety in an independent sample. We additionally found evidence that the network of edges related to creativity anxiety were largely distinct from those found in previous work to be related to divergent creative ability (Beaty et al., 2018). In addition to being the first work on the neural correlates of creativity anxiety, this research also included the development of a new Chinese-language version of the Creativity Anxiety Scale, and demonstrated that key behavioral findings from the initial work on creativity anxiety are replicable across cultures and languages., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Creativity is the ability to generate original and useful products, and it is considered central to the progression of human civilization. As a noninherited emerging process, creativity may stem from temporally dynamic brain activity, which, however, has not been well studied. The purpose of this study was to measure brain dynamics using entropy and to examine the associations between brain entropy (BEN) and divergent thinking in a large healthy sample. The results showed that divergent thinking was consistently positively correlated with regional BEN in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/pre-supplementary motor area and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggesting that creativity is closely related to the functional dynamics of the control networks involved in cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Importantly, our main results were cross-validated in two independent cohorts from two different cultures. Additionally, three dimensions of divergent thinking (fluency, flexibility, and originality) were positively correlated with regional BEN in the left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus, suggesting that more highly creative individuals possess more flexible semantic associative networks. Taken together, our findings provide the first evidence of the associations of regional BEN with individual variations in divergent thinking and show that BEN is sensitive to detecting variations in important cognitive abilities in healthy subjects., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.)

Advances in graph-theoretic models of networks have made it possible to investigate the topological properties of the human brain across time and space. Brain flexibility is defined as the frequency with which brain regions switch between different functional modules over time and has been shown to correlate with higher-order cognitive functions. Need for cognition (NFC) refers to a personality trait to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors and usually has a positive effect on diverse cognitive activities (e.g., creativity), which may also be closely related to brain flexibility. Here, we tested whether the flexibility of a large-scale brain network associated with NFC facilitated creative achievement. Robust correlation analyses showed that NFC correlates with the flexibility of the insula, the medial prefrontal cortex, and the putamen at the node level. Several large-scale brain networks whose flexibility also correlated with NFC, including the default mode network, salience network, subcortical network, ventral attention network, and control network, imply that higher NFC individuals may exhibit better cognitive abilities, such as executive control, salient detection, spontaneous thought, and motivation function. Interestingly, only global flexibility acted as a mediator in the relationship between NFC and creative achievement, suggesting that the mediating mechanism may involve an interaction between distinct regions or large-scale networks across the entire brain instead of the functional characteristic of local regions. Together, we demonstrate that the higher NFC is, the more flexible the brain, which may provide a potential insight into the acquisition of creative achievement., (© 2019 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Creativity is the ability to produce something novel and useful. Various tasks have been used to explore the neural bases of creativity. However, studies exploring the relationship between the brain regions during divergent thinking are still rare. Given that the brain works in networks, exploring the functional connectivity (FC) patterns during divergent thinking is important. The present study explored the FC patterns during alternative uses task and its relationship with openness to experience. Psychophysiological interaction results corroborated that the inferior parietal lobule was positively connected to the precuneus and middle temporal gyrus. Middle frontal gyrus/superior frontal gyrus was positively connected to the precuneus and supramarginal gyrus. Individual difference analysis revealed that openness to experience was positively related to the strength of FCs between some key regions of default mode, cognitive control and salience networks. Findings confirmed the network-based mechanisms underlying creativity and the neural basis of individual differences of openness to experience.

Hemispheric lateralization for creative thinking remains a controversial topic. Early behavioral and neuroimaging research supported right hemisphere dominance in creative thinking, but more recent evidence suggests the left hemisphere plays an equally important role. In addition, the extent to which hemispheric lateralization in specific brain regions relates to individual creative ability, and whether hemispheric dominance relates to distinct task performance, remain poorly understood. Here, using multivariate predictive modeling of resting-state functional MRI data in a large sample of adults (N = 502), we estimated hemispheric segregation and integration for each brain region and investigated these lateralization indices with respect to individual differences in visuospatial and verbal divergent thinking. Our analyses revealed that individual visuospatial divergent thinking performance could be predicted by right-hemispheric segregation within the visual network, sensorimotor network, and some regions within the default mode network. High visuospatial divergent thinking was related to stronger functional connectivity between the visual network, fronto-parietal network, and default mode network within the right hemisphere. In contrast, high verbal divergent thinking performance could be predicted by inter-hemispheric balance within regions mainly involved in complex semantic processing (e.g., lateral temporal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus) and cognitive control processing (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal cortex, and superior parietal lobule). The current study suggests that two distinct forms of functional lateralization support individual differences in visuospatial and verbal divergent thinking. These findings have important implications for our understanding of hemispheric interaction mechanisms of creative thinking., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Creativity is the ability to see the world in new ways. Creative individuals exhibit the ability to switch between different modes of thinking and shift their mental focus. This suggests a connection between creativity and dynamic interactions of brain networks. We report here the first investigation into the relationship between the reconfiguration of dynamic brain networks during the resting state and verbal creativity using two fMRI datasets involving 574 subjects. We find that verbal creativity correlates with temporal variability of the functional-connectivity (FC) patterns of the lateral prefrontal cortex, the precuneus, and the parahippocampal gyrus. High variability of these regions indicates flexible connectivity patterns which may facilitate executive functions. Furthermore, verbal creativity correlates with the temporal variability of FC patterns within the default mode network (DMN), between the DMN and attention/sensorimotor network, and between control and sensory networks. High variability of FCs between the DMN and attention networks characterizes frequent adjustments of attention. Finally, dynamic interaction between the cerebellum and task control network also contributes to verbal creativity, suggesting a relationship between the cerebellum and creativity. This study reveals a close relationship between verbal creativity and high variability of cortical networks involved in spontaneous thought, attention and cognitive control.

Psychological resilience refers to the ability that individuals can positively adapt and respond to stress and adversity. It is important for mental health and well-being. However, there was few study examined the functional connectivity basis of psychological resilience. The present study used resting-state seed-based functional connectivity to explore the neural basis of psychological resilience and its association with positive affect in a big healthy sample. Results showed that resilience is associated with functional connectivity between regions involved in emotional flexibility, coping ability, and inhibitory control. Specifically, resilience is positively correlated with the strength of the left insula and the right parahippocampus connectivity which is involved in the self-evaluation process. It is also positively correlated with the strength of the left orbitofrontal gyrus (OFC) and the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) connectivity which is associated with the flexible use of emotional resources and flexible control in processing affective information. Additionally, resilience is negatively correlated with the strength of the left OFC and the right precuneus connectivity which is implicated in the rumination in negatively self-related thoughts. Crucially, the left OFC-IFG connectivity mediated the effect of positive affect on resilience, supporting the opinion that positive affect facilitates resilience by broadening one's attention and promoting flexible thinking and coping abilities. In summary, these findings extend previous studies by revealing the functional connectivity basis of psychological resilience and highlighting the left OFC-IFG connectivity as a neural substrate linking positive affect and psychological resilience., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Subjective well-being (SWB) reflects the cognitive and emotional evaluations of an individual's life and plays an important role in individual's success in health, work and social relationships. Although previous studies have revealed the spontaneous brain activity underlying SWB, little is known about the relationship between brain network interactions and SWB. The present study investigated the static and dynamic functional connectivity among large-scale brain networks during resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in relation to SWB in two large independent datasets. The results showed that SWB is negatively correlated with static functional connectivity between the salience network (SN) and the anterior default mode network (DMN). Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analysis found that SWB is negatively correlated with the fraction of time that participants spent in a brain state characterized by weak cross-network connectivity (between the DMN, SN and frontal-parietal network [FPN]) and strong within-network connectivity (within the DMN and within the FPN). This connectivity profile may account for the good mental adaptability and flexible information communication of people with high levels of SWB. The dFNC results were well replicated with different analysis parameters and further validated in an independent sample. Taken together, these findings reveal that the dynamic interaction between networks involved in self-reflection, emotional regulation and cognitive control underlies SWB.

Rejection sensitivity (RS) can be defined as the disposition of a person to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. Individuals with high RS are likely to suffer from mental disorders. The association between individual differences in RS and spontaneous neuronal activity at resting state has not yet been investigated. In this study, resting state data were used to investigate the relationship between RS and spontaneous neuronal activity in a large sample of healthy men (137) and women (172). The participants completed the rejection sensitivity questionnaire and underwent resting-state magnetic resonance imaging scan. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the correlation between the regional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and rejection sensitivity scores adjusted for age and sex. Results showed that the ALFF value in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) was positively associated with RS. Furthermore, functional connectivity with the middle frontal gyrus was negatively correlated with RS when sgACC was used as the seed region. These findings suggest that the spontaneous neuronal activity of sgACC and its functional connectivity with the lateral prefrontal cortex which are involved in experiencing social exclusion and regulating negative emotions are associated with individual differences in RS.

Recently, the field of developmental neuroscience has aimed to uncover the developmental trajectory of the human brain and to understand the changes that occur as a function of ageing. Here, we present a dataset of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data covering the adult lifespan that includes structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI. Four hundred ninety-four healthy adults (age range: 19-80 years; Males=187) were recruited and completed two multi-modal MRI scan sessions at the Brain Imaging Center of Southwest University, Chongqing, China. The goals of the dataset are to give researchers the opportunity to map the developmental trajectories of structural and functional changes in the human brain and to replicate previous findings.

Creative thinking plays a vital role in almost all aspects of human life. However, little is known about the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying creative thinking. Based on a cross-validation based predictive framework, we searched from the whole-brain connectome (34,716 functional connectivities) and whole genome data (309,996 SNPs) in two datasets (all collected by Southwest University, Chongqing) consisting of altogether 236 subjects, for a better understanding of the brain and genetic underpinning of creativity. Using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking score, we found that high figural creativity is mainly related to high functional connectivity between the executive control, attention, and memory retrieval networks (strong top-down effects); and to low functional connectivity between the default mode network, the ventral attention network, and the subcortical and primary sensory networks (weak bottom-up processing) in the first dataset (consisting of 138 subjects). High creativity also correlates significantly with mutations of genes coding for both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. Combining the brain connectome and the genomic data we can predict individuals' creativity scores with an accuracy of 78.4%, which is significantly better than prediction using single modality data (gene or functional connectivity), indicating the importance of combining multi-modality data. Our neuroimaging prediction model built upon the first dataset was cross-validated by a completely new dataset of 98 subjects (r = 0.267, p = 0.0078) with an accuracy of 64.6%. In addition, the creativity-related functional connectivity network we identified in the first dataset was still significantly correlated with the creativity score in the new dataset (p<10 -3 ). In summary, our research demonstrates that strong top-down control versus weak bottom-up processes underlie creativity, which is modulated by competition between the glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter systems. Our work provides the first insights into both the neural and the genetic bases of creativity., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Creative cognition is important to academic performance and career success during late adolescence and adulthood. However, there is a lack of longitudinal data on whether brain structural development could predict improvements in creative thinking, and how such changes interact with other cognitive abilities to support creative performance. Here we examined longitudinal alterations of brain structure and their relation to creative cognitive ability in a sample of 159 healthy young adults who were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging 2-3 times over the course of 3 years. The most robust predictor of future creative ability was the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which in conjunction with baseline creative capacity showed a 31% prediction rate. Longitudinal analysis revealed that slower decreases in gray matter density within left frontoparietal and right frontotemporal clusters predicted enhanced creative ability. Moreoever, the relationship between longitudinal alterations within frontal-related clusters and improved creative ability was moderated by the right DLPFC and working memory ability. We conclude that continuous goal-directed planning and accumulated knowledge are implemented in the right DLPFC and temporal areas, respectively, which in turn support longitudinal gains in creative cognitive ability., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Creativity is imperative to the progression of human civilization, prosperity, and well-being. Past creative researches tends to emphasize the default mode network (DMN) or the frontoparietal network (FPN) somewhat exclusively. However, little is known about how these networks interact to contribute to creativity and whether common or distinct brain networks are responsible for visual and verbal creativity. Here, we use functional connectivity analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate visual and verbal creativity-related regions and networks in 282 healthy subjects. We found that functional connectivity within the bilateral superior parietal cortex of the FPN was negatively associated with visual and verbal creativity. The strength of connectivity between the DMN and FPN was positively related to both creative domains. Visual creativity was negatively correlated with functional connectivity within the precuneus of the pDMN and right middle frontal gyrus of the FPN, and verbal creativity was negatively correlated with functional connectivity within the medial prefrontal cortex of the aDMN. Critically, the FPN mediated the relationship between the aDMN and verbal creativity, and it also mediated the relationship between the pDMN and visual creativity. Taken together, decreased within-network connectivity of the FPN and DMN may allow for flexible between-network coupling in the highly creative brain. These findings provide indirect evidence for the cooperative role of the default and executive control networks in creativity, extending past research by revealing common and distinct brain systems underlying verbal and visual creative cognition. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2094-2111, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Creativity is commonly defined as the ability to produce something both novel and useful. Stimulating creativity has great significance for both individual success and social improvement. Although increasing creative capacity has been confirmed to be possible and effective at the behavioral level, few longitudinal studies have examined the extent to which the brain function and structure underlying creativity are plastic. A cognitive stimulation (20 sessions) method was used in the present study to train subjects and to explore the neuroplasticity induced by training. The behavioral results revealed that both the originality and the fluency of divergent thinking were significantly improved by training. Furthermore, functional changes induced by training were observed in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and posterior brain regions. Moreover, the gray matter volume (GMV) was significantly increased in the dACC after divergent thinking training. These results suggest that the enhancement of creativity may rely not only on the posterior brain regions that are related to the fundamental cognitive processes of creativity (e.g., semantic processing, generating novel associations), but also on areas that are involved in top-down cognitive control, such as the dACC and DLPFC. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3375-3387, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The loss of an only child is a negative life event and may potentially increase the risk of psychiatric disorders. However, the psychological consequences of the loss of an only child and the associated neural mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Degree centrality (DC), derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), was used to examine network communication in 22 older adults who lost their only child and 23 matched controls. The older adults who lost their only child exhibited an ineffective coping style. They also showed decreased distant and local DC in the precuneus and left inferior parietal lobule and decreased distant DC in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Furthermore, the decreased local and distant DC of these regions and the decreased DLPFC-precuneus connectivity strength were negatively correlated with negative coping scores in the loss group but not in the controls. Overall, the results suggested a model that the impaired neural network communication of brain hubs within the default mode network (DMN) and central executive network (CEN) were associated with a negative coping style in older adults who lost their only child. The decreased connectivity of the hubs can be identified as a neural risk factor that is related to future psychopathology., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Neuroanatomical abnormalities in patients with major depression disorder (MDD) have been attracted great research attention. However, the structural alterations associated with subthreshold depression (StD) remain unclear and, therefore, require further investigation. In this study, 42 young women with StD, and 30 matched non-depressed controls (NCs) were identified based on two-time Beck Depression Inventory scores. Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and region of interest method were used to investigate altered gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) among a non-clinical sample of young women with StD. VBM results indicated that young women with StD showed significantly decreased GMV in the right inferior parietal lobule than NCs; increased GMV in the amygdala, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus; and increased WMV in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. Together, structural alterations in specific brain regions, which are known to be involved in the fronto-limbic circuits implicated in depression may precede the occurrence of depressive episodes and influence the development of MDD.

The Stroop effect is one of the most robust and well-studied phenomena in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. However, little is known about the relationship between intrinsic brain activity and the individual differences of this effect. In the present study, we explored this issue by examining whether resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) signals could predict individual differences in the Stroop effect of healthy individuals. A partial correlation analysis was calculated to examine the relationship between regional homogeneity (ReHo) and Stroop effect size, while controlling for age, sex, and framewise displacement (FD). The results showed positive correlations in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), the left insula, the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC), and the medial frontal gyrus (MFG), and negative correlation in the left precentral gyrus (LPG). These results indicate the possible influences of the LIFG, the left insula, and the LPG on the efficiency of cognitive control, and demonstrate that the key nodes of default mode network (DMN) may be important in goal-directed behavior and/or mental effort during cognitive control tasks.

The behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and the behavioral activation system (BAS) are two fundamental motivational systems which are not only responsible for affective states, behavior and personality, but also related to predispositions for various forms of psychopathology. A wide range of previous studies revealed sex differences in both BIS/BAS and affective disorders (e.g., anxiety disorder) and externalizing disorders (e.g., addictive and impulsive behaviors), and a close link might exist between them. It remains to be clarified, however, whether the relationships between neuroanatomical characteristics and BIS/BAS exhibit sex differences. To investigate, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to examine sex differences in the correlations between regional gray matter volume (rGMV) and scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scale in a large sample of healthy young adults (n=353). Results showed that females displayed a negative correlation between BIS sensitivity and rGMV in the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), as well as positive correlations between BAS sensitivity and rGMV in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL), whereas males showed the opposite pattern. These findings suggest that the brain regions associated with processing of negative emotions (PHG) and reward-related information (vmPFC and IPL) may contribute to sex-related differences in rGMV correlates of BIS and BAS, respectively. The present findings demonstrated the evidence of sex-linked neuroanatomical background of BIS and BAS among non-clinical subjects and might encourage future research into the gender-specific relationships between BIS/BAS and related affective disorders and externalizing disorders., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)