title: Reward feedback processing in children and adolescents: medial frontal theta oscillations.
abstract: We examined event-related electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations, including event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP) and intertrial coherence (ITC), to compare feedback processing during a chance-based reward vs. non-reward task in groups of 10-12-year-old (n=42), 13-14-year-old (n=34) and 15-17-year-olds (n=32). Because few, if any studies have applied these analytic methods to examine feedback processing in children or adolescents, we used a fine-grained approach that explored one half hertz by 16ms increments during feedback (no win vs. win events) in the theta (4-8Hz) frequency band. Complex wavelet frequency decomposition revealed that no win feedback was associated with enhanced theta power and phase coherence. We observed condition and age-based differences for both ERSP and ITC, with stronger effects for ITC. The transition from childhood to early adolescence (13-14yrs.) was a point of increased differentiation of ITC favoring no win vs. wins feedback and also compared to children or older adolescents, a point of heightened ITC for no win feedback (quadratic effect).
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: michael.crowley@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Crowley
authors.affiliation: Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Brock University, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Stefon J R
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: van Noordt
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hommer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Mikle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: South
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: R M P
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Fearon
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D030141:Feedback, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012201:Reward; D013826:Theta Rhythm
keywords: Adolescence; Event-related spectral analysis; Inter-trial phase coherence; Reward; Theta oscillations