Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
06:34
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Linking temporal dynamics of children's natural behavior to brain development
Andrew E Koepp1, Monami Nishio2, Allyson P Mackey2
1Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, USA.
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
|May 25, 2026
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Behavioral regulation is crucial for classroom success and varies among children.
- Daily increases in activity levels (DIA) reflect self-control and predict long-term outcomes.
- Individual differences in brain development may underlie variations in sustained behavioral regulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between brain development and children's ability to sustain behavioral regulation, measured by DIA.
- To test preregistered hypotheses linking steeper DIA (indicating lower sustained control) to specific neuroanatomical and functional brain characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized neuroimaging and actigraphy data from the ABCD study (N=4338, mean age=11.95).
- Analyzed daily increases in activity levels (DIA) as a measure of sustained behavioral regulation.
- Examined associations between DIA and cortical thickness, surface area, and functional network connectivity.
Main Results:
- Replicated typical DIA patterns and its association with lower inhibitory control.
- Found that greater DIA (lower sustained control) is linked to thinner cortex in executive control and motor areas.
- Observed associations between greater DIA and altered connectivity patterns within and between executive control and somatomotor networks.
Conclusions:
- Daily increases in activity levels (DIA) serve as a valuable, large-scale measure of naturalistic self-control.
- Brain structure and function, particularly in executive control and somatomotor networks, are associated with individual differences in sustained behavioral regulation.
- DIA offers a promising avenue for studying variability in self-control across and within individuals.
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