Control networks and neuromodulators of early development

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Adult cognitive and emotional self-regulation involves executive attention networks (anterior cingulate, insula, basal ganglia).
• Infant self-regulation is proposed to depend on sensory orienting networks (parietal lobe, frontal eye fields).

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a developmental shift in brain networks and their modulators underlying self-regulation from infancy to adulthood.
• To explore the role of cholinergic and dopaminergic systems in this developmental transition.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of existing studies on human adults and alert monkeys.
• Tracing developmental changes in attentional, emotional, and behavioral regulation.

Main Results:

• The infant sensory orienting network is modulated by the nicotinic cholinergic system (nucleus basalis).
• The adult executive attention network is modulated by the dopaminergic system (ventral tegmental area).

Conclusions:

• A switch from cholinergic to dopaminergic modulation accompanies the shift from sensory orienting to executive attention networks.
• This developmental change is crucial for understanding early attentional, emotional, and behavioral regulation.