title: Frontal preparatory neural oscillations associated with cognitive control: A developmental study comparing young adults and adolescents.
abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that age-related changes in the frontal cortex may underlie developmental improvements in cognitive control. In the present study we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify frontal oscillatory neurodynamics that support age-related improvements in cognitive control during adolescence. We characterized the differences in neural oscillations in adolescents and adults during the preparation to suppress a prepotent saccade (antisaccade trials-AS) compared to preparing to generate a more automatic saccade (prosaccade trials-PS). We found that for adults, AS were associated with increased beta-band (16-38Hz) power in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), enhanced alpha- to low beta-band (10-18Hz) power in the frontal eye field (FEF) that predicted performance, and increased cross-frequency alpha-beta (10-26Hz) amplitude coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF. Developmental comparisons between adults and adolescents revealed similar engagement of DLPFC beta-band power but weaker FEF alpha-band power, and lower cross-frequency coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF in adolescents. These results suggest that lateral prefrontal neural activity associated with cognitive control is adult-like by adolescence; the development of cognitive control from adolescence to adulthood is instead associated with increases in frontal connectivity and strengthening of inhibition signaling for suppressing task-incompatible processes.
authors.affiliation: Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States. Electronic address: kai.hwang@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Avniel S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ghuman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Dara S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Manoach
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States.
authors.forename: Stephanie R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Luna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Antisaccade; Frontal cortex; Inhibitory control; Neural oscillations