Maturation of brain function associated with response inhibition
Leanne Tamm1, Vinod Menon, Allan L Reiss
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5717, USA. leannet@stanford.edu
Summary
Response inhibition improves with age, showing distinct developmental patterns in the prefrontal cortex. Younger individuals exhibit broader brain activation, while older individuals show more focused activation during executive function tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Executive functions, including response inhibition, undergo significant development throughout childhood and adolescence.
- The prefrontal cortex is a key brain region involved in executive functions, but its developmental trajectory is complex.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the developmental changes in response inhibition.
- To investigate potential functional dissociations within the prefrontal cortex during executive function development.
Main Methods:
- A Go/NoGo task was administered to 19 typically developing participants aged 8 to 20.
- Behavioral data and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected during task performance.
Main Results:
- Response inhibition ability significantly improved with age, though overall task accuracy did not correlate with age.
- fMRI data revealed age-related changes in prefrontal cortex activation: increased activation with age in the left inferior frontal gyrus/insula/orbitofrontal gyrus, and decreased activation in the left middle/superior frontal gyri.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest dissociable developmental processes in the prefrontal cortex related to response inhibition.
- Younger participants showed more widespread activation, possibly reflecting less efficient neural recruitment for executive functions.
- Older participants demonstrated more focal activation in brain regions critical for response inhibition, indicating a more mature and specialized neural network.
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