title: Development of active controlled retrieval during middle childhood.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the development of active controlled memory retrieval in children. Active retrieval is an effortful retrieval required to disambiguate information stored in memory. Brain imaging studies and monkey experiments have shown that the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) is specifically engaged in this retrieval in both adult humans and monkeys. Three groups of 6-, 8-, and 11-year-old children and adults were tested on an active retrieval task. Results showed a marked difference in performance between 6-year olds, who made more errors and had longer response time, and 8- and 11-year olds, who had performance similar to adults. These results provide evidence that the VLPFC and the network supporting its top-down modulation undergo substantial maturational changes between 6 and 8 years old, giving children better active control of visual memory.
authors.affiliation: Faculté des Sciences, Département de kinanthropologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP. 8888, succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8, Canada.
authors.forename: Joannie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dionne
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cadoret
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology