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Wan C, Cai H, Li F. Age Three: Milestone in the Development of Cognitive Flexibility. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:578. [PMID: 39062401 PMCID: PMC11274188 DOI: 10.3390/bs14070578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2024] [Revised: 06/29/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Although the cognitive flexibility (CF) of preschool children has been extensively studied, the development of CF in children around three years old is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the CF of three-year-olds in a stepwise rule-induction task (sRIT) comprising nine steps in which children are encouraged to switch attention to a new rule and then implicitly inhibit the old one. A pair of boxes was displayed at each step, and children aged 2.5 to 3.5 years were asked to select the target. When children learned a rule (e.g., the shape rule), they were encouraged to switch rules through negative feedback. The results showed that most children (81.10%) passed at least one of the two sets of the sRIT, and children over the age of three years performed better than those under three years. Additionally, a positive correlation existed between rule switching and rule generalization, whereby the old rule was implicitly inhibited. These findings indicate that age three might be a milestone in the development of CF, and inhibitory control might play a vital role in rule switching.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Fuhong Li
- School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China; (C.W.); (H.C.)
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Zhuang Q, Qiao L, Xu L, Yao S, Chen S, Zheng X, Li J, Fu M, Li K, Vatansever D, Ferraro S, Kendrick KM, Becker B. The right inferior frontal gyrus as pivotal node and effective regulator of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical response inhibition circuit. PSYCHORADIOLOGY 2023; 3:kkad016. [PMID: 38666118 PMCID: PMC10917375 DOI: 10.1093/psyrad/kkad016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Background The involvement of specific basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits in response inhibition has been extensively mapped in animal models. However, the pivotal nodes and directed causal regulation within this inhibitory circuit in humans remains controversial. Objective The main aim of the present study was to determine the causal information flow and critical nodes in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical inhibitory circuits and also to examine whether these are modulated by biological factors (i.e. sex) and behavioral performance. Methods Here, we capitalize on the recent progress in robust and biologically plausible directed causal modeling (DCM-PEB) and a large response inhibition dataset (n = 250) acquired with concomitant functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine key nodes, their causal regulation and modulation via biological variables (sex) and inhibitory performance in the inhibitory circuit encompassing the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), caudate nucleus (rCau), globus pallidum (rGP), and thalamus (rThal). Results The entire neural circuit exhibited high intrinsic connectivity and response inhibition critically increased causal projections from the rIFG to both rCau and rThal. Direct comparison further demonstrated that response inhibition induced an increasing rIFG inflow and increased the causal regulation of this region over the rCau and rThal. In addition, sex and performance influenced the functional architecture of the regulatory circuits such that women displayed increased rThal self-inhibition and decreased rThal to GP modulation, while better inhibitory performance was associated with stronger rThal to rIFG communication. Furthermore, control analyses did not reveal a similar key communication in a left lateralized model. Conclusions Together, these findings indicate a pivotal role of the rIFG as input and causal regulator of subcortical response inhibition nodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Zhuang
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 311121, China
| | - Lei Qiao
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Lei Xu
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610068, China
| | - Shuxia Yao
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
| | - Shuaiyu Chen
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 311121, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Zheng
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Jialin Li
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
| | - Meina Fu
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
| | - Keshuang Li
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Deniz Vatansever
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Stefania Ferraro
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 611731, China
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
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Singh M, Skippen P, He J, Thomson P, Fuelscher I, Caeyenberghs K, Anderson V, Nicholson JM, Hyde C, Silk TJ. Longitudinal developmental trajectories of inhibition and white-matter maturation of the fronto-basal-ganglia circuits. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 58:101171. [PMID: 36372005 PMCID: PMC9660590 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Response inhibition refers to the cancelling of planned (or restraining of ongoing) actions and is required in much of our everyday life. Response inhibition appears to improve dramatically in early development and plateau in adolescence. The fronto-basal-ganglia network has long been shown to predict individual differences in the ability to enact response inhibition. In the current study, we examined whether developmental trajectories of fiber-specific white matter properties of the fronto-basal-ganglia network was predictive of parallel developmental trajectories of response inhibition. 138 children aged 9-14 completed the stop-signal task (SST). A subsample of 73 children underwent high-angular resolution diffusion MRI data for up to three time points. Performance on the SST was assessed using a parametric race modelling approach. White matter organization of the fronto-basal-ganglia circuit was estimated using fixel-based analysis. Contrary to predictions, we did not find any significant associations between maturational trajectories of fronto-basal-ganglia white matter and developmental improvements in SST performance. Findings suggest that the development of white matter organization of the fronto-basal-ganglia and development of stopping performance follow distinct maturational trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mervyn Singh
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Patrick Skippen
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia
| | - Jason He
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Phoebe Thomson
- Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ian Fuelscher
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Karen Caeyenberghs
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Vicki Anderson
- Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Jan M Nicholson
- Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Christian Hyde
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Timothy J Silk
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Isbell E, Grammer JK. Event-related potentials data quality in young children: Standardized measurement error of ERN and Pe. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22245. [PMID: 35452543 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2021] [Revised: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Most methods used to quantify event-related potential (ERP) data were developed for use with typical adult populations. Questions regarding how these methods apply to child ERP data remain. Here, we focused on two widely used ERP scoring methods, namely, time-window mean amplitude and peak amplitude measures, for two ERP error monitoring components, the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe), collected from Kindergarteners during a child-friendly cognitive control task (N = 170). We first established the presence of error-related ERPs and examined the relations between ERP scores and children's behavioral task performance. We then assessed the data quality (precision) of mean and peak ERP amplitude scores at the level of individual participants using the standardized measurement error of ERPs. We also compared the effects of choosing baseline correction periods that were relatively distal versus proximal to responses on data quality. Across each of these analyses, we found that time-window mean amplitude scoring was comparable to, and in some cases outperformed, peak amplitude scoring. In addition, the proximal baseline provided higher data quality than the distal baseline. We conclude with specific recommendations regarding the scoring and baseline correction for ERP data collected from young children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elif Isbell
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of California Merced
| | - Jennie K Grammer
- School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia
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