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Striatal and orbitofrontal grey matter volumes are associated with cognitive event related potentials during associative learning task performance in male and female children and adolescents

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction The individual differences in gray matter volumes and event-related potentials may underlie variability in associative learning. However, little is known about the sex differences in these structure–function relationships across development. Methods The current study investigates associations between local gray matter volumes and brain responses during associative learning task in children and adolescents aged 7–21 years. We hypothesized that gray matter volumes of the basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex would be associated with event-related potentials indices of associative learning, in a sex-dependent manner. Final analysis included 138 participants (68 females, 70 males). Participants completed an associative learning task with concurrent EEG event-related potentials recording. Gray matter volumes were analyzed within 5 a priori regions of interest, predominantly located in the basal ganglia vicinity and prefrontal cortex. Results In females, anterior N400 latency to Early-stage stimulus onsets was positively associated with gray matter volume in the left putamen/lentiform nucleus and to Late-stage stimulus onsets with gray matter volume in the subgenual anterior cingulate. Anterior P300 amplitude to Late-stage feedback presentation was positively associated with gray matter volume in the right nucleus accumbens/putamen and the right medial orbitofrontal cortex. Correlations involving the subgenual anterior cingulate and medial orbitofrontal cortex were significantly stronger in the female group relative to the male group. In males, anterior P300 amplitude to Early-stage feedback presentation was associated with gray matter volume in a left hippocampus/amygdala cluster, yet not significantly differently from females. In exploratory analysis, after accounting for total brain volumes, age was positively associated with the volumes of striatal and orbitofrontal regions in both sexes, with largely overlapping patterns. Discussion Therefore, findings support structure–function relationships linking gray matter volumes of striatum and orbitofrontal cortex to brain activity during reinforcement learning performance. Given that associative learning is an instance of reinforcement learning, its underlying neural processes are influenced by the structural development of striatal and orbitofrontal regions.

Source: Frontiers in Neuroscience

DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2026.1902749