title: Functional neuroanatomy of spatial working memory in children.
abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine spatial working memory in 8- to 11-year-old children tested under three conditions. In the visual condition, children were asked to examine the location of a dot on a screen. In the motor condition, children were instructed to push a button that corresponded to the location of a dot presented on a screen. In the memory condition, children were asked to remember the location of a dot presented 1 or 2 trials previously. Subtracting the activation of the motor condition from the memory condition revealed activity in the dorsal aspects of the prefrontal cortex and in the posterior parietal and anterior cingulate cortex. These findings were also obtained in the analysis of the memory minus visual conditions except that motor cortex activation was also observed. These findings parallel those reported in comparable studies of adults and suggest that fMRI may be a useful means of examining function-structure relations in developmental populations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Development and Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA. canelson@tc.umn.edu
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Monk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Carver
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Truwit
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values