ArticleNeuropsychologia2020
Prefrontal cortical thickness mediates the association between cortisol reactivity and executive function in childhood.
Article in Neuropsychologia, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- What type of exercise prescription is best for improving cognitive flexibility in children and adolescents? A network meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Dental Anxiety Among Children Living in an Orphanage Compared to Children Living with Both of Their Parents in Saudi Arabia: A Case-Control Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association of social and environmental exposures at the neighborhood level with child brain volume.Environment international · 2025Article
- Left OFC Activation in Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy during an Inhibitory Control Task in an Early Years Sample: Integrating Stress Responses with Cognitive Function and Brain Activation.Developmental neuroscience · 2025Article
- The Gut Microbiota Is Involved in the Regulation of Cognitive Flexibility in Adolescent BALB/c Mice Exposed to Chronic Physical Stress and a High-Fat Diet.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Predictors of executive function among 2 year olds from a Thai birth cohort.Infant behavior & development · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic Disparities in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Regulation and Prefrontal Cortical Structure.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2024Review
- Socioeconomic Status and Reading Development: Moving from "Deficit" to "Adaptation" in Neurobiological Models of Experience-Dependent Learning.Mind, brain and education : the official journal of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society · 2023Article
- LearningBrain sciences · 2023Article
- Effect of 11 Weeks of Physical Exercise on Physical Fitness and Executive Functions in Children.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Environmental Risk Factors and Cognitive Outcomes in Psychosis: Pre-, Perinatal, and Early Life Adversity.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The impact of stress hormones, such as cortisol, on the brain is proposed to contribute to differences in executive function of school-age children from impoverished backgrounds. However, the association between cortisol reactivity, prefrontal cortex, and executive function is relatively unexplored in young children. The current longitudinal study examined whether 63 children's early preschool-age (3-5 years, Time 1) and concurrent school-age (5-9 years, Time 2) salivary cortisol reactivity were associated with executive function and prefrontal cortical thickness at school-age. Two measures of cortisol reactivity were calculated: area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg; total cortisol release) and with respect to increase (AUCi; total change in cortisol). Results demonstrated that Time 2 total cortisol release was negatively associated with executive function, Time 1 total cortisol release positively related to right middle frontal cortical thickness, and Time 2 total cortisol change was negatively associated with right inferior frontal cortical thickness. Moreover, greater right middle frontal cortical thickness mediated the association between greater Time 1 total cortisol release and lower executive function. This study provides support for an early adversity framework in which individual differences in executive function in childhood are directly related to the variations of cortisol-release and the effects on the prefrontal cortex thickness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.