Molecular mechanisms underlying resting-state brain functional correlates of behavioral inhibition
Shunshun Cui,
Ping Jiang,
Yan Cheng,
Huanhuan Cai,
Jiajia Zhu,
Yongqiang Yu
Affiliations
Shunshun Cui
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China
Ping Jiang
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China
Yan Cheng
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China
Huanhuan Cai
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China
Jiajia Zhu
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Corresponding authors at: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218, Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei 230022, China.
Yongqiang Yu
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Corresponding authors at: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218, Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei 230022, China.
Previous literature has established the presence of sex differences in behavioral inhibition as well as its neural substrates and related disease risk. However, there is limited evidence that speaks directly to the question of whether or not there are sex-dependent associations between behavioral inhibition and resting-state brain function and, if so, how they are modulated by the underlying molecular mechanisms. We computed functional connectivity density (FCD) using resting-state functional MRI data to examine their associations with behavioral inhibition ability measured using a Go/No-Go task across a large cohort of 510 healthy young adults. Then, we examined the spatial relationships of the FCD correlates of behavioral inhibition with gene expression and neurotransmitter atlases to explore their potential genetic architecture and neurochemical basis. A significant negative correlation between behavioral inhibition and FCD in the left superior parietal lobule was found in females but not males. Further spatial correlation analyses demonstrated that the identified neural correlates of behavioral inhibition were associated with expression of gene categories predominantly implicating essential components of the cerebral cortex (glial cell, neuron, axon, dendrite, and synapse) and ion channel activity, as well as were linked to the serotonergic system. Our findings may not only yield important insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the female-specific neural substrates of behavioral inhibition, but also provide a critical context for understanding how biological sex might contribute to variation in behavioral inhibition and its related disease risk.
