Behaviour and neural oscillations differentiate physical and digital versions of the Corsi block tapping task

With an increase in digital adaptations of neuropsychological assessments, it is imperative to investigate whether they are recruiting the same neurocognitive mechanisms as their physical counterparts. The present study focuses on the Corsi block-tapping task, a classic measure of visuospatial memory, to compare behavioural and electroencephalographic (EEG) markers of performance by children and adults engaged in a physical and digital version of the task. Complete behavioural and EEG data were obtained from 39 4-year-olds, 40 6-year-olds, and 41 young adults. We computed a total memory score, and relative power in theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), and beta (13-30 Hz) frequency bands. Though children showed superior performance on the physical version, there were no differences in relative theta, alpha, or beta power for either 4- or 6-year-olds. In contrast, adults showed similar performance on both versions of the task, but increased relative theta power for the digital version only. Moreover, better behavioural performance correlated with lower relative theta power, and higher relative alpha and beta power across versions. Together, these findings suggest that behavioural and neural markers differ for the digital and physical versions of Corsi blocks, across childhood and young adulthood. Our study suggests multiple considerations when selecting either version of Corsi blocks for the purpose of assessing visuospatial memory: while digital task adaptations are better suited to study temporally aligned neural processes, physical tasks enable children to perform best.