Prefrontal engagement during sequential manual actions in children at early adolescence compared with adults
Erik Domellöf1, Daniel Säfström2
1Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, Sweden.
Insights
Children aged 11-14 struggle with predictive control in sequential manual tasks, unlike adults. This suggests crucial development in predictive abilities occurs later in adolescence.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Goal-directed manual tasks involve sequential actions.
- Predictive control mechanisms are vital for efficient task execution.
- Developmental aspects of predictive control in children are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate predictive control mechanisms in children (11-14 years) performing sequential manual tasks.
- Compare brain activations in children versus adults during these tasks.
- Identify developmental trajectories of predictive control.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a sequential manual task in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner.
- Two conditions: one-target (no prediction) and two-target (prediction allowed).
- Compared performance and brain activation between children and adults.
Main Results:
- Adults showed efficient predictive control, completing more targets in the two-target condition.
- Children performed worse in the two-target condition, indicating difficulties with predictive strategies.
- Children exhibited increased activation in prefrontal and parietal regions, suggesting higher cognitive load due to inhibitory challenges.
Conclusions:
- Predictive control development in sequential manual tasks extends beyond early adolescence.
- Children's difficulties stem from limited inhibitory control over premature movements.
- Mastering predictive phase transitions in manual tasks is a protracted developmental process.
Abstract:
In everyday behavior, we perform numerous goal-directed manual tasks that contain a sequence of actions. However, knowledge is limited regarding developmental aspects of predictive control mechanisms in such tasks, particularly with regard to brain activations supporting sequential manual actions in children. We investigated these issues in typically developing children at early adolescence (11-14 years) compared with previously collected data from adults. While lying in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, the participants steered a cursor on a computer screen towards sequentially presented targets using a hand-held manipulandum. The next target was either revealed after completion of the ongoing target (one-target condition), in which case forthcoming movements could not be planned ahead, or displayed in advance (two-target condition), which allowed the use of a predictive control strategy. The adults completed more targets in the two- than one-target condition, displaying an efficient predictive control strategy. The children, in contrast, completed fewer targets in the two- than one-target condition, and difficulties implementing a predictive strategy were found due to a limited capacity to inhibit premature movements. Brain areas with increased activation in children, compared with the adults, included prefrontal and posterior parietal regions, suggesting an increased demand for higher-level cognitive processing in the children due to inhibitory challenges. Thus, regarding predictive mechanisms during sequential manual tasks, crucial development likely occurs beyond early adolescence. This is at a later age than what has previously been reported from other manual tasks, suggesting that predictive phase transitions are difficult to master.
