title: The development of the neural substrates of cognitive control in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) involve impairments in cognitive control. In typical development (TYP), neural systems underlying cognitive control undergo substantial maturation during adolescence. Development is delayed in adolescents with ASD. Little is known about the neural substrates of this delay.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and a cognitive control task involving overcoming a prepotent response tendency to examine the development of cognitive control in young (ages 12-15; n = 13 with ASD and n = 13 with TYP) and older (ages 16-18; n = 14 with ASD and n = 14 with TYP) adolescents with whole-brain voxelwise univariate and task-related functional connectivity analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older ASD and TYP showed reduced activation in sensory and premotor areas relative to younger ones. The older ASD group showed reduced left parietal activation relative to TYP. Functional connectivity analyses showed a significant age by group interaction with the older ASD group exhibiting increased functional connectivity strength between the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, bilaterally. This functional connectivity strength was related to task performance in ASD, whereas that between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex (Brodmann areas 9 and 40) was related to task performance in TYP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents with ASD rely more on reactive cognitive control, involving last-minute conflict detection and control implementation by the anterior cingulate cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, versus proactive cognitive control requiring processing by dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex. Findings await replication in larger longitudinal studies that examine their functional consequences and amenability to intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; M.I.N.D. Institute, Sacramento, California; University of California, Davis Imaging Research Center, Sacramento, California. Electronic address: marjorie.solomon@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Marjorie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis Imaging Research Center, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: Jong H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis Imaging Research Center, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: J Daniel
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ragland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis Imaging Research Center, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: Tara A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Niendam
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis Imaging Research Center, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: Tyler A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Lesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; M.I.N.D. Institute, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: Wonja
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fairbrother
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis Imaging Research Center, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: Cameron S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Carter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000254:growth & development / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: Adolescence; autism spectrum disorders; cognitive control; development; fMRI; response inhibition