Brain Activity During the Gradual-Onset Continuous Performance Task in Adolescents: An Exploratory fMRI Study
Jade Awada1,2, Natalia Fernandez1, Vanessa Siffredi1,3
1Division of Development and Growth, Department of Paediatrics, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Introduction:
Sustained attention (SA) and inhibition are fundamental processes that mature during adolescence, a developmental period between childhood and adulthood of rapid behavioral and cognitive changes. The current study aimed to provide a better understanding of SA and inhibition processes in typically developing adolescents (n = 26) aged 11-18 years.
Methods:
Functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were acquired during two different modalities (face and scene) from a previously validated gradual‑onset continuous (gradCPT) paradigm to evaluate SA performance. In addition, we performed linear regression analyses to examine the relationship between covariates of interest and brain activation.
Results:
This exploratory study encountered performance challenges. Target detection accuracy was markedly lower than adults' (face: 22.1%, scene: 28.1% vs. 74%-80% in adults), while non-target accuracy remained relatively preserved (face: 86.5%, scene: 93.9%). Participants demonstrated better performance in the scene compared to the face condition (higher sensitivity d': t(25) = ‒5.11, p < 0.001; lower reaction time variability: t(25) = 4.99, p < 0.001). Despite poor behavioral performance, we observed activation in bilateral fronto-parieto-occipital regions during attempted response inhibition, regardless of modality. During the face gradCPT, activation showed a mainly left-lateralized pattern in fronto-cingulo-cerebellar areas, while the scene gradCPT elicited more extensive bilateral fronto-temporo-parieto-occipital activation. Brain activity correlated with behavioral performance measures (p < 0.002), though interpretation is constrained by low accuracy rates.
Conclusion:
Using the gradCPT paradigm, this exploratory study found activation in brain regions commonly linked to sustained attention and inhibition. However, these neural findings must be interpreted cautiously and cannot conclusively characterize sustained attention networks due to performance challenges. Our results highlight important methodological points for developmental applications and provide insights into the implementation of adult paradigms on younger audiences, such as adolescents.
