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Sex differences in brain correlates of STEM anxiety

Ariel A. Gonzalez, View ORCID ProfileKatherine L. Bottenhorn, View ORCID ProfileJessica E. Bartley, Timothy Hayes, View ORCID ProfileMichael C. Riedel, View ORCID ProfileTaylor Salo, Elsa I. Bravo, Rosalie Odean, Alina Nazareth, View ORCID ProfileRobert W. Laird, View ORCID ProfileMatthew T. Sutherland, View ORCID ProfileEric Brewe, View ORCID ProfileShannon M. Pruden, Angela R. Laird
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/528075
Ariel A. Gonzalez
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Katherine L. Bottenhorn
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
2Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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  • ORCID record for Katherine L. Bottenhorn
Jessica E. Bartley
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
3Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Timothy Hayes
2Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Michael C. Riedel
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
3Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Taylor Salo
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
2Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Elsa I. Bravo
2Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Rosalie Odean
4School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
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Alina Nazareth
5Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Robert W. Laird
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
3Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Matthew T. Sutherland
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
2Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Eric Brewe
6Department of Physics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
7Department of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
8Department of Teaching and Learning, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Shannon M. Pruden
2Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Angela R. Laird
1Center for Imaging Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
3Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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  • For correspondence: alaird@fiu.edu
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ABSTRACT

Anxiety is known to dysregulate the salience, default mode, and central executive networks of the human brain, yet this phenomenon has not been fully explored across the STEM learning experience, where anxiety can impact negatively academic performance. Here, we evaluated anxiety and large-scale brain connectivity in 101 undergraduate physics students. We found sex differences in STEM-related but not clinical anxiety, with longitudinal increases in science anxiety observed for both female and male students. Sex-specific impacts of STEM anxiety on brain connectivity emerged, with male students exhibiting distinct inter-network connectivity for STEM and clinical anxiety and female students demonstrating no significant within-sex correlations. Anxiety was negatively correlated with academic performance in sex-specific ways at both pre- and post-instruction. Moreover, math anxiety in male students mediated the relation between default mode-salience connectivity and course grade. Together, these results reveal complex sex differences in the neural mechanisms driving how anxiety impacts STEM learning.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 23, 2019.
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Sex differences in brain correlates of STEM anxiety
Ariel A. Gonzalez, Katherine L. Bottenhorn, Jessica E. Bartley, Timothy Hayes, Michael C. Riedel, Taylor Salo, Elsa I. Bravo, Rosalie Odean, Alina Nazareth, Robert W. Laird, Matthew T. Sutherland, Eric Brewe, Shannon M. Pruden, Angela R. Laird
bioRxiv 528075; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/528075
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Sex differences in brain correlates of STEM anxiety
Ariel A. Gonzalez, Katherine L. Bottenhorn, Jessica E. Bartley, Timothy Hayes, Michael C. Riedel, Taylor Salo, Elsa I. Bravo, Rosalie Odean, Alina Nazareth, Robert W. Laird, Matthew T. Sutherland, Eric Brewe, Shannon M. Pruden, Angela R. Laird
bioRxiv 528075; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/528075

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