N2 amplitude as a neural marker of executive function in young children: an ERP study of children who switch versus perseverate on the Dimensional Change Card Sort

Cognitive Control Moderates Associations Between Domains of Temperamental Reactivity and Preschoolers' Social Behaviors

Temperamental characteristics and emerging cognitive control are meaningful predictors of children's development of adaptive and maladaptive social behaviors during the preschool period. However, knowledge of the interplay of these pathways, when examined concurrently to highlight their individual contributions, is limited. Using a cross-sectional sample of 3-year-old children, we examined parent-reported discrete traits of negative (anger, fear, sadness, and shyness) and positive (low- and high-intensity pleasure) temperamental reactivity as predictors of children's prosociality and physical aggression. Further, we tested whether the effects of discrete temperament were moderated by cognitive control, as indexed by the N2 event-related potential, during a go/no-go task. Analyses focus on a subsample of children with an observable N2 (n = 66). When controlling for other relative temperament traits, several significant main effects emerged. Moreover, at low cognitive control (smaller N2), fear was negatively associated with aggression, whereas at high cognitive control, sadness was positively associated with aggression. Heightened anger was linked to reduced prosocial behavior when cognitive control was low but linked to greater prosocial behavior when cognitive control was high. The results highlight that discrete temperament traits predict individual differences in child outcomes but that associations depend on concurrent levels of cognitive control.

Neural evidence of core foundations and conceptual change in preschool numeracy

Symbolic numeracy first emerges as children learn the meanings of number words and how to use them to precisely count sets of objects. This development starts before children enter school and forms a foundation for lifelong mathematics achievement. Despite its importance, exactly how children acquire this basic knowledge is unclear. Here we test competing theories of early number learning by measuring event-related brain potentials during a novel number word-quantity comparison task in 3-4-year-old preschool children (N = 128). We find several qualitative differences in neural processing of number by conceptual stage of development. Specifically, we find differences in early attention-related parietal electrophysiology (N1), suggesting that less conceptually advanced children process arrays as individual objects and more advanced children distribute attention over the entire set. Subsequently, we find that only more conceptually advanced children show later-going frontal (N2) sensitivity to the numerical-distance relationship between the number word and visual quantity. The nature of this response suggested that exact rather than approximate numerical meanings were being associated with number words over frontal sites. No evidence of numerical distance effects was observed over posterior scalp sites. Together these results suggest that children may engage parallel individuation of objects to learn the meanings of the first few number words, but, ultimately, create new exact cardinal value representations for number words that cannot be defined in terms of core, nonverbal number systems. More broadly, these results document an interaction between attentional and general cognitive mechanisms in cognitive development. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Conceptual development in numeracy is associated with a shift in attention from objects to sets. Children acquire meanings of the first few number words through associations with parallel attentional individuation of objects. Understanding of cardinality is associated with attentional processing of sets rather than individuals. Brain signatures suggest children attribute exact rather than approximate numerical meanings to the first few number words. Number-quantity relationship processing for the first few number words is evident in frontal but not parietal scalp electrophysiology of young children.

Explaining Brain-Behavior Relations: Inhibitory Control as an Intermediate Phenotype Between the N2 ERP and the Externalizing Spectrum in Childhood

Identifying neural and cognitive mechanisms in externalizing problems in childhood is important for earlier and more targeted intervention. Meta-analytic findings have shown that smaller N2 event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes, thought to reflect inhibitory control, are associated with externalizing problems in children. However, it is unclear how (i.e., through which cognitive processes) N2 amplitudes relate to externalizing problems. We examined whether inhibitory control may be a cognitive process that links N2 amplitudes and externalizing problems in early childhood. Children (N = 147, 74 girls) were assessed at four time points, spanning 3-7 years of age. Children's externalizing behavior was assessed via questionnaires completed by mothers, fathers, and teachers/secondary caregivers. Children's inhibitory control was assessed using eleven performance-based tasks and two questionnaires. Developmental scaling linked differing measures of inhibitory control and externalizing behavior across ages onto the same scale. Children's N2 amplitudes were extracted from electroencephalography data collected during a go/no-go task. Smaller N2 amplitudes were associated with externalizing problems and poorer inhibitory control. A concurrent analysis of indirect effects revealed that poorer inhibitory control partially explained the association between smaller N2 amplitudes and externalizing problems, even when controlling for the child's age, sex, and socioeconomic status. This is among the first studies to link N2 amplitudes, inhibitory control, and externalizing problems during early childhood. Findings suggest that smaller N2 amplitudes may be an early neural indicator of inhibitory control deficits and externalizing psychopathology. Moreover, inhibitory control may be an important target for early intervention in the development of externalizing psychopathology.

Temporal dynamics of cognitive flexibility in adolescents with anorexia nervosa: A high-density EEG study

Impairment in cognitive flexibility is a core symptom of anorexia nervosa (AN) and is associated with treatment resistance. Nevertheless, studies on the neural basis of cognitive flexibility in adolescent AN are rare. This study aimed to investigate brain networks underlying cognitive flexibility in adolescents with AN. To address this aim, participants performed a Dimensional Change Card Sorting task during high-density electroencephalography (EEG) recording. Anxiety was measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Data were collected on 22 girls with AN and 23 controls. Evoked responses were investigated using global-spatial analysis. Adolescents with AN showed greater overall accuracy, fewer switch trial errors and reduced inverse efficiency switch cost relative to controls, although these effects disappeared after adjusting for trait and state anxiety. EEG results indicated augmented early visual orienting processing (P100) and subsequent impaired attentional mechanisms to task switching (P300b) in subjects with AN. During task switching, diminished activations in subjects with AN were identified in the posterior cingulate, calcarine sulcus and cerebellum, and task repetitions induced diminished activations in a network involving the medial prefrontal cortex, and several posterior regions, compared with controls. No significant associations were found between measures of cognitive flexibility and anxiety in the AN group. Findings of this study suggest atypical neural mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility in adolescents with AN. More importantly, our findings suggest that different behavioural profiles in AN could relate to differences in anxiety levels. Future research should investigate the efficacy of cognitive training to rebalance brain networks of cognitive flexibility in AN.

Adult attachment is related to maternal neural response to infant cues: an ERP study

Maternal attachment security is an important predictor of caregiving . However, little is known regarding the neurobiological mechanisms by which attachment influences processing of infant cues, a critical component of caregiving. We examined whether attachment security, measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, might relate to neural responses to infant cues using event-related potentials. Secure (n=35) and insecure (n=24) mothers viewed photographs of infant faces and heard recordings of infant vocalizations while electroencephalography was recorded. We examined initial processing of infant faces (N170) and cries (N100), and attentional allocation to infant faces and cries (P300). Secure mothers were significantly faster than insecure mothers to orient to infant cries (N100), structurally encode their own infant's face (N170), and attend to infant faces (P300). These differences may elucidate mechanisms underlying how attachment may shape neural processing of infant cues and highlight the use ofsocial neuroscientific approaches in examining clinically relevant aspects of attachment.

Motor imagery training of goal-directed reaching in relation to imagery of reaching and grasping in healthy people

The study aimed to determine whether four weeks of motor imagery training (MIT) of goal-directed reaching (reaching to grasp task) would affect the cortical activity during motor imagery of reaching (MIR) and grasping (MIG) in the same way. We examined cortical activity regarding event-related potentials (ERPs) in healthy young participants. Our study also evaluated the subjective vividness of the imagery. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the relationship between the subjective assessment of motor imagery (MI) ability to reach and grasp and the cortical activity during those tasks before and after training to understand the underlying neuroplasticity mechanisms. Twenty-seven volunteers participated in MIT of goal-directed reaching and two measurement sessions before and after MIT. During the sessions 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during MIR and MIG. Also, participants assessed the vividness of the MI tasks using a visual analog scale (VAS). The vividness of imagination improved significantly (P < .05) after MIT. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that the task (MIR/MIG) and the location of electrodes had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude (P < .05). The interaction between the task, location, and session (before/after MIT) also had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude (P < .05). Finally, the location of electrodes and the interaction between location and session had a significant effect on the ERP's latency (P < .05). We found that MIT influenced the EEG signal associated with reaching differently than grasping. The effect was more pronounced for MIR than for MIG. Correlation analysis showed that changes in the assessed parameters due to MIT reduced the relationship between the subjective evaluation of imagining and the EEG signal. This finding means that the subjective evaluation of imagining cannot be a simple, functional insight into the bioelectrical activity of the cerebral cortex expressed by the ERPs in mental training. The changes we noted in ERPs after MIT may benefit the use of non-invasive EEG in the brain-computer interface (BCI) context.Trial registration: NCT04048083.

Stop and think: Additional time supports monitoring processes in young children

When children evaluate their certainty, monitoring is often inaccurate. Even though young children struggle to estimate their confidence, existing research shows that monitoring skills are developing earlier than expected. Using a paired associates learning task with integrated monitoring, we implemented a time window to—"Stop and Think"—before children generated their answers and evaluated their confidence in the chosen response. Results show that kindergarten and second grade children in the—"Stop and Think"—condition have higher monitoring accuracy than the control group. Implementing a time window thus seems to support children in their evaluation of different certainty levels. Relating individual differences in independently measured inhibitory control skills revealed a correlation between monitoring and inhibition for kindergarteners.

A functional near-infrared spectroscopy investigation of item-method directed forgetting

Whether directed forgetting is passive or active remains debated. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), blood-oxygen level-dependent responses of intentional forgetting were investigated in the item-method directed forgetting (DF) paradigm. During the study phase, each word was followed by a random remembering or forgetting cue indicating whether the word is to be remembered (TBR) or to be forgotten (TBF). A recognition test was used in the test phase and four cue-response conditions were obtained: remembering/forgetting cues associated with the subsequently remembered (TBR-r/TBF-r) or forgotten (TBR-f/TBF-f) words. Data from 16 healthy adult participants showed a DF effect. The fNIRS data revealed that, during the 5-9 s time window, the oxygenate hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) levels were higher during intentional forgetting compared to intentional remembering in the left inferior frontal (TBF-f vs. TBR-f) and right superior frontal gyrus (TBF-r vs. TBR-r), indicating more frontal inhibition involved during intentional forgetting. During the 9-11 s time window, the oxy-Hb level in the frontal and parietal gyrus was higher for forgetting than remembering cues, indicating that the TBF words might be automatically encoded. In sum, the TBF words might receive inhibition control triggered by forgetting cues and then be automatically encoded with the increase of the post-cue interval.

Autonomic profiles and self-regulation outcomes in early childhood

This study examined autonomic profiles in preschoolers (N = 278, age = 4.7 years) and their relations to self-regulation outcomes concurrently and one year later, in kindergarten. Children's sympathetic (preejection period [PEP]) and parasympathetic activity (respiratory sinus arrythmia [RSA]) were measured at rest and during cognitive and emotional tasks. Three self-regulatory competencies were assessed: executive functions, emotion regulation and behavioral regulation. Executive functioning was measured at ages 4 and 5 using laboratory tasks designed to assess updating/working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Emotion regulation was observed during emotionally distressing tasks in the laboratory, both at ages 4 and 5. Behavioral regulation and emotional reactivity were assessed via teacher ratings in kindergarten, at age 5. Latent profile analysis yielded four autonomic profiles: moderate parasympathetic inhibition (45%), reciprocal sympathetic activation (26%), coinhibition (25%), and high sympathetic activation (7%). The reciprocal sympathetic activation group showed better executive functioning in preschool and kindergarten, particularly compared to the high sympathetic activation group. The moderate parasympathetic inhibition group showed lower emotional reactivity and better behavioral regulation in kindergarten, compared to the other three groups. Findings suggest that autonomic profiles meaningfully associate with self-regulation outcomes in early childhood, such that certain profiles relate to better self-regulation than others.

A preliminary randomized, controlled trial of executive function training for children with autism spectrum disorder

LAY ABSTRACT

Executive function, which is a set of thinking skills that includes stopping unwanted responses, being flexible, and remembering information needed to solve problems, is a challenge for many children on the autism spectrum. This study tested whether executive function could be improved with a computerized executive function training program under the guidance of a coach who reinforced the use of executive function skills. Seventy children with autism spectrum disorder from age 7 to 11 years of age participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to receive training or to a waiting group. The tests most likely to determine whether the training may be effective were chosen from a larger battery before the study started and included one task measuring brain responses, two measures of executive function in the lab, and a parent questionnaire. Changes in social functioning and repetitive behaviors were also explored. All children assigned to training completed the program and families generally reported the experience was positive. Brain responses of the training group changed following training, but not within the waiting group during a similar time period. Children who received training did not exhibit behavioral changes during the two the lab-based tasks. Parent report on questionnaires indicated that neither group showed a significant change in their broad use of executive function in other settings. Yet, children who received training were reported to have fewer restricted and repetitive behaviors following training. These initial findings suggest that short executive function training activities are feasible and may improve some functioning of school-aged children on the autism spectrum.

A Pilot Event-Related Potentials Study on Mechanisms Underlying a tDCS-Enhanced Food-Specific Response Inhibition Task for Patients With Binge Eating Disorder

Behavioural studies demonstrate alterations in cognitive functioning, particularly impaired response inhibition and increased attentional bias towards food in binge eating disorder (BED). This pilot study aimed to investigate the neurophysiological processing of a food-specific inhibition training combined with anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in 16 patients with BED (mean age = 38.6, mean BMI = 33.7 kg/m²). Patients performed a food-specific antisaccade task at baseline (T0) and in a cross-over design with verum vs. sham stimulation at T1 and T2. We investigated (i) event-related potentials (ERPs; N2, ERN and P3 amplitudes) while executing the task at baseline, (ii) whether baseline ERPs would predict task performance at T1 and T2 and (iii) associations between ERPs, eating disorder pathology and impulsivity at baseline. The mean amplitude of N2 was less pronounced in erroneous saccades (ES) than correct saccades (CS), whereas ERN and P3 mean amplitudes were more pronounced in ES. Moreover, the P3 mean amplitude of ES predicted the percentage of ES at both follow up-measurements irrespective of the applied stimulation (sham vs. verum). N2 in trials with correct saccades were negatively correlated with nonplanning trait impulsivity, while P3 in erroneous antisaccade trials was negatively correlated with food-related impulsivity. Overall, the findings of reduced ERN, enhanced P3 and N2 amplitude might be interpreted as difficulties in response inhibition towards food in individuals with BED. In particular, P3 predicts task outcome at follow-up and might represent a potential marker for inhibitory control processes.

The Immediate and Lasting Effect of Emotion Regulation in Adolescents: An ERP Study

The immediate effect is an important index of the outcomes of emotion regulation. However, in daily life, whether the effect of emotion regulation lasts and the lasting mechanism have been examined less. The present research focused on the relationships between the immediate and lasting effect of the emotion regulation of adolescents. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 51 adolescents (31 boys and 20 girls, Mage = 12.82) during online emotion regulation using the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task (phase 1) and re-presentation of emotional stimuli after a period of time (phase 2). Event-related potentials (ERPs) related to emotion regulation, such as N2, P3, and the late positive potential (LPP), were examined in the two phases. The results showed that: (1) In both of the two phases, in negative emotion conditions, the amplitudes of P3 and LPP 300-600 of no-regulation conditions were significantly higher than those in reappraisal conditions. However, there was no significant difference under neutral conditions; (2) The amplitudes of P3, N2, and LPP 300-600 during emotion regulation in phase 1 positively predicted the amplitudes of P3, N2, and LPP300-600 in phase 2 in different experimental conditions. Results from the regression analysis implied that the immediate effect of online emotion regulation may predict the lasting effect when adolescents face the same emotions again. In addition, our findings provide neurological evidence that the use of cognitive reappraisal could effectively help adolescents to reduce the recruitment of cognitive resources when they regulate negative emotions and when they face those negative emotions again.

A Developmental Eye Tracking Investigation of Cued Task Switching Performance

Children perform worse than adults on tests of cognitive flexibility, which is a component of executive function. To assess what aspects of a cognitive flexibility task (cued switching) children have difficulty with, investigators tested where eye gaze diverged over age. Eye-tracking was used as a proxy for attention during the preparatory period of each trial in 48 children ages 8-16 years and 51 adults ages 18-27 years. Children fixated more often and longer on the cued rule, and made more saccades between rule and response options. Behavioral performance correlated with gaze location and saccades. Mid-adolescents were similar to adults, supporting the slow maturation of cognitive flexibility. Lower preparatory control and associated lower cognitive flexibility task performance in development may particularly relate to rule processing.

The neurodevelopment of delay discounting for monetary rewards in pre-adolescent children

Children are found to exhibit high degrees of delay discounting compared with adults in many delay discounting studies, which might be due to the asynchronous development of "bottom-up" and "top-down" neural systems. However, the temporal dynamics associated with the two systems in the development of delay discounting processes are not well known. In this study, we chose two age groups of participants and adopted event-related potential (ERP) techniques to investigate the neural dynamic differences between children and adults during delay discounting processes. Behavioral findings showed that children discounted more than adults and chose more immediate choices. Electrophysiological findings revealed that children exhibited longer neural processing (longer P2 latency) than adults during the early detection and identification phase. Children showed less cognitive control (smaller N2 amplitude) than adults over the middle frontal areas, and they devoted more neural effort (larger P3 amplitudes) to making final choices than adults. The factors of reward amount and time delay could influence the development of delay discounting in children.

EEG signatures of cognitive and social development of preschool children-a systematic review

Background

Early identification of preschool children who are at risk of faltering in their development is essential to ensuring that all children attain their full potential. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to measure neural correlates of cognitive and social development in children for decades. Effective portable and low-cost EEG devices increase the potential of its use to assess neurodevelopment in children at scale and particularly in low-resource settings. We conducted a systematic review aimed to synthesise EEG measures of cognitive and social development in 2-5-year old children. Our secondary aim was to identify how these measures differ across a) the course of development within this age range, b) gender and c) socioeconomic status (SES).

Methods and findings

A systematic literature search identified 51 studies for inclusion in this review. Data relevant to the primary and secondary aims was extracted from these studies and an assessment for risk of bias was done, which highlighted the need for harmonisation of EEG data collection and analysis methods across research groups and more detailed reporting of participant characteristics. Studies reported on the domains of executive function (n = 22 papers), selective auditory attention (n = 9), learning and memory (n = 5), processing of faces (n = 7) and emotional stimuli (n = 8). For papers investigating executive function and selective auditory attention, the most commonly reported measures were alpha power and the amplitude and latency of positive (P1, P2, P3) and negative (N1, N2) deflections of event related potential (ERPs) components. The N170 and P1 ERP components were the most commonly reported neural responses to face and emotional faces stimuli. A mid-latency negative component and positive slow wave were used to index learning and memory, and late positive potential in response to emotional non-face stimuli. While almost half the studies described changes in EEG measures across age, only eight studies disaggregated results based on gender, and six included children from low income households to assess the impact of SES on neurodevelopment. No studies were conducted in low- and middle-income countries.

Conclusion

This review has identified power across the EEG spectrum and ERP components to be the measures most commonly reported in studies in which preschool children engage in tasks indexing cognitive and social development. It has also highlighted the need for additional research into their changes across age and based on gender and SES.

A Dynamical Reconceptualization of Executive-Function Development

Executive function plays a foundational role in everyday behaviors across the life span. The theoretical understanding of executive-function development, however, is still a work in progress. Doebel proposed that executive-function development reflects skills using control in the service of behavior-using mental content such as knowledge and beliefs to guide behavior in a context-specific fashion. This liberating view contrasts with modular views of executive function. This new view resembles some older dynamic-systems concepts that long ago proposed that behavior reflects the assembly of multiple pieces in context. We dig into this resemblance and evaluate what else dynamic-systems theory adds to the understanding of executive-function development. We describe core dynamic-systems concepts and apply them to executive function-as conceptualized by Doebel-and through this lens explain the multilevel nature of goal-directed behavior and how a capacity to behave in a goal-directed fashion across contexts emerges over development. We then describe a dynamic systems model of goal-directed behavior during childhood and, finally, address broader theoretical implications of dynamic-systems theory and propose new translational implications for fostering children's capacity to behave in a goal-directed fashion across everyday contexts.

Impaired set-shifting in drug-naïve patients with borderline personality disorder: an event-related potentials study

BACKGROUND

Neurocognitive impairments might play a key role in the development of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), however, the pathophysiological mechanism underlying cognitive impairment of BPD is largely unknown. This study was aimed to examine the electrophysiological mechanism of deficits in set-shifting processing in patients with BPD.

METHODS

Twenty-seven drug-naïve patients with BPD and twenty-four healthy controls were recruited. Demographic variables and clinical characteristics of all subjects were collected. Behavioral data and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded when subjects were performing the task-switching paradigm, which was applied to investigate the set-shifting function. The P2, N2 and P3 components in the task-switching paradigm would be analyzed.

RESULTS

Patients with BPD had significantly higher level of impulsivity, depression and anxiety than healthy controls. When performing the switching task, the BPD group had lower P2 amplitude and higher N2 amplitude than the control group. In the BPD group, the P2 latency at Fz electrode in repeat task was correlated positively with the level of depression, and P2 latency at Pz electrode in repeat task and switch task both had significantly negative relationships with the the level of anxiety.

LIMITATIONS

This cross-sectional designed study did not clarify the causal relationship of the electrophysiological characteristics and the development of BPD.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with BPD might have abnormal brain activities when overcoming the inhibition of current task and inhibiting the effects of prior task, and their top-down control function might be impaired. These findings provide some useful clues for the underlying pathophysiological mechanism of BPD.

Time-Based Measures of Monitoring in Association With Executive Functions in Kindergarten Children

Abstract. Repeatedly, the notion has been put forward that metacognition (MC) and executive functions (EF) share common grounds, as both describe higher order cognitive processes and involve monitoring. However, only few studies addressed this issue empirically and so far their findings are rather inconsistent. Addressing the question whether measurement differences may in part be responsible for the mixed results, the current study included explicitly reported as well as time-based measures of metacognitive monitoring and related them to EF. A total of 202 children aged 4–6 years were assessed in terms of EF (inhibition, working memory, shifting) and monitoring. While there was no significant link between explicitly reported confidence and EF, latencies of monitoring judgments were significantly related to time- and accuracy-based measures of EF. Our findings support the association between EF and MC and the assumption that better inhibition abilities help children to engage in more thorough monitoring.

Maturation- and aging-related differences in electrophysiological correlates of error detection and error awareness

The error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) as well as the early and late error positivity (Pe) are electrophysiological correlates known to reflect error detection and error awareness. Despite much evidence on age differences in mastering response conflicts, the development and the functional distinctiveness of these components across the lifespan is still unclear. Here we investigated maturation- and aging-related differences in the ERN/Ne, the early and late Pe during a response conflict task in a lifespan sample that included 45 children, 42 adolescents, 39 younger and 34 older adults. Lifespan age differences were characterized by marked declines of all three components in older age, whereas clear maturation effects from childhood to adolescence were only observed for error detection reflected in the ERN/Ne component. Furthermore, using regression analyses, we examined functional relationships of the error monitoring components to behavioral indicators of task performance. Across all age groups, both the ERN/Ne and the early Pe were related to response accuracy, but only the early Pe was further associated with performance in a covariate task indicative of perceptual processing and attention capacities. Our results suggest that the ERN/Ne, the early and late Pe reflect distinct but complementary processes of error monitoring across the lifespan.

Food is discounted more steeply than money: Evidence from N2 and P3 responses in delay discounting tasks

In decision making, different rewards such as money and food may lead to different behavioral outcomes and neural dynamics. In this study, we used event-related potential (ERP) techniques and delay discounting tasks with money and snacks as rewards to determine whether there are differences in behavior and neurophysiology across the two tasks. The results showed that participants not only behaved differently but also showed different neural patterns in the money and snack tasks. In particular, at the behavioral level, participants discounted snacks more than money. At the neural level, the N2 amplitudes in the snack task were more negative than those in the money task. It was also discovered that for females, the amplitudes of P3 in the snack task were larger than those in money, while there was no difference for males. The current study showed the essential roles of frontal cognitive control function during varied delay discounting processes on money and food rewards.

Maternal antenatal anxiety and electrophysiological functioning amongst a sub-set of preschoolers participating in the GUSTO cohort

BACKGROUND

Antenatal maternal anxiety is a risk for offspring psychological and cognitive difficulties. The preschool years represent an important time for brain development, and so may be a window for intervention. However, electrophysiological investigations of maternal anxiety and preschoolers' brain functioning are lacking. We ask whether anxiety symptoms predict neurophysiology, and consider timing specificity (26-weeks antenatal or 24-months postnatal), form of insult (anxiety symptoms, per se, or also depression symptoms), and offspring gender.

METHODS

The sample consisted of a subset of 71 mothers and their 3 year old children taking part in the prospective birth cohort, GUSTO. Mothers provided antenatal (26 weeks) and postnatal (2 years) anxiety and depressive symptomatology data, respectively via the "State Trait Anxiety Questionnaire" and the "Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale." Offspring provided electrophysiological data, obtained while they indicated the emotional expression of actors whose facial expressions remained consistent throughout a pre-switch block, but were reversed at "post-switch."

RESULTS

Three electrophysiological components linked to different information processing stages were identified. The two earliest occurring components (i.e., the N1 and P2) differed across blocks. During post-switch, both were significantly predicted by maternal anxiety, after controlling for pre-switch neurophysiology. Similar results were observed with depression. Antenatal mental health remained a significant predictor after controlling for postnatal mental health.

CONCLUSION

In combination with past work, these findings suggest the importance of reducing symptoms in women prior to and during pregnancy, and offering support to offspring early in development.

Test-retest reliability of the N2 event-related potential in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

OBJECTIVE

The N2 ERP component is used as a biomeasure of executive function in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of N2 amplitude in this population.

METHODS

ERPs were recorded from 7 to 11-year-old children with ASD during Flanker (n = 21) and Go/Nogo tasks (n = 14) administered at two time points separated by approximately three months. Reliability of the N2 component was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

RESULTS

Reliability for mean N2 amplitude obtained during the Flanker task was moderate (congruent: ICC = 0.542, 95% CI [0.173, 0.782]; incongruent: ICC = 0.629, 95% CI [0.276, 0.831]). Similarly, reliability for the Go/Nogo task ranged from moderate to good ('go': ICC = 0.817, 95% CI [0.535, 0.937]; 'nogo': ICC = 0.578, 95% CI [0.075, 0.843]).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support the use of N2 amplitude as a biomeasure of executive function in school-aged children with ASD.

SIGNIFICANCE

This research addresses a critical gap in clinical neurophysiology, as an understanding of the stability and reliability of the N2 component is needed in order to differentiate variance explained by repeated measurement versus targeted treatments and interventions.

Multisensory stimuli enhance 3-year-old children's executive function: A three-dimensional object version of the standard Dimensional Change Card Sort

A three-dimensional object version of the standard Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) was developed to examine the influence of multisensory stimuli on 3-year-old children's executive function. Whereas the developmental phenomenon marking 3-year-olds' difficulties with rule use in the standard DCCS can be attributed to several cognitive factors, we examined the possibility that better encoding of object features could facilitate children's rule-switching behavior. We examined whether 3-year-olds might be able to capitalize on cues available to multiple senses to create a more robust representation of object features that would enable them to overcome previous difficulties with rule switching in the standard DCCS. Participants were randomly assigned to the standard two-dimensional DCCS or the three-dimensional object version that was designed to match the rabbit and boat images used in the card version. The 3-year-olds who completed the object version outperformed those who completed the standard card version, succeeding in switching rules more accurately when provided with visual, auditory-verbal labeling, and tactile information of object features. Notably, more children achieved perfect accuracy and fewer children achieved floor-level performance in the object version than in the card version. We attribute 3-year-olds' success in the object version to greater cognitive control made possible by the enhanced encoding of the stimulus properties through multisensory input and enhanced cognitive processing of ecologically valid three-dimensional objects.

Increased Intra-Subject Variability of Reaction Times and Single-Trial Event-Related Potential Components in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an increasingly common neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1 in 59 children. The cognitive profiles of individuals with ASD are varied, and the neurophysiological underpinnings of these developmental difficulties are unclear. While many studies have focused on overall group differences in the amplitude or latency of event related potential (ERP) responses, recent research suggests that increased intra-subject neural variability may also be a reliable indicator of atypical brain function in ASD. This study aimed to identify behavioral and neural variability responses during an emotional inhibitory control task in children with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children. Children with ASD showed increased variability in response to both inhibitory and emotional stimuli, evidenced by greater reaction time variability and single-trial ERP variability of N200 and N170 amplitudes and/or latencies compared to TD children. These results suggest that the physiological basis of ASD may be more accurately explained by increased intra-subject variability, in addition to characteristic increases or decreases in the amplitude or latency of neural responses. Autism Res 2020, 13:221-229. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: The cognitive functions including memory, attention, executive functions, and perception, of individuals with ASD are varied, and the physiological underpinnings of these profiles are unclear. In this study, children with ASD showed increased intra-subject neural and behavioral variability in response to an emotional inhibitory control task compared to typically developing children. These results suggest that the physiological basis of ASD may also be explained by increased behavioral and neural variability in people with ASD, rather than simply characteristic increases or decreases in averaged brain responses.

The role of forgetting cues in directed forgetting: Ceasing maintenance rehearsal

The effect of forgetting cues on maintenance rehearsal in item-method directed forgetting (DF) paradigm was explored from behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. In Experiment 1, maintenance rehearsal was induced by a maintenance cue. Specifically, after the studied word, a maintenance (M) cue was presented before the presentation of a remembering/forgetting cue. When an M cue appeared, participants were required to wait for the following remembering (M-R) or forgetting (M-F) cue to determine whether the word needs to be remembered or not, and words were kept in short-term memory with maintenance rehearsal until the presentation of M-R/M-F cues. Four conditions were utilized: maintain-remembering (M-R), maintain-forgetting (M-F), maintenance (M), and forgetting (F). The results showed that, 1) superior recognition was found for the M-R relative to the M-F words, revealing a typical DF effect; 2) No recognition difference was found between M and M-F words, indicating that M-F cues showed little effect in promoting forgetting; 3) Inferior recognition was found for F than M words, indicating that the maintenance rehearsal might cease or be reduced by the presentation of F cues. In Experiment 2, event related potentials time-locked to cue (M-R, M-F, M, and F cues) onset during study phase. An enhanced fronto-central P3a component was evoked for F relative to M cues, indicating a more intensive attention orienting or attentional inhibition process triggered by F cues. These results demonstrated that forgetting cues might trigger an inhibition process to terminate the maintenance rehearsal process.

N2 amplitude modulation across the antisocial spectrum: a meta-analysis

Despite the accumulated knowledge on antisocial behavior and the positive event-related potential peaking around 300 ms (P3), less is known about the preceding negative electrophysiological response around 200 ms (N2). A systematic search of the literature was conducted to analyze the N2 modulation across the antisocial spectrum. Thirty-seven studies (n = 1199) were retrieved to the quantitative analysis. Reduced N2 amplitudes were found in the more severe antisocial manifestations (violent behavior and antisocial personality disorder), which is consistent with previous findings on P3 alterations and N2 reduced amplitudes in externalizing disorders. Findings on psychopathy were mixed, also in accordance with previous P3 results. From a dimensional lens, this supports the heterogeneity of the psychopathic personality structure: impulsivity features are a closer attribute of antisocial behavior and thus may be associated with N2 reduction, while adaptive psychopathic traits may be associated with intact (or even increased) N2 amplitude. The increased N2 amplitudes observed in impulsive behavior challenge, however, the previous meta-analytic findings. As most of the studies on impulsivity include subclinical samples, it leads to the hypothesis that some compensatory mechanisms can still occur at a subclinical level, reflecting the need for heightened allocation of brain resources to yield similar performances. Importantly, inhibition was the core deficit to explain N2 blunted amplitudes, alongside with deficits in the frontal brain region. From our findings, the reduction in P3 amplitude across the antisocial spectrum may be detected in the previous N2 time window.

Electrophysiology of Inhibitory Control in the Context of Emotion Processing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an increasingly common developmental disorder that affects 1 in 59 children. Despite this high prevalence of ASD, knowledge regarding the biological basis of its associated cognitive difficulties remains scant. In this study, we aimed to identify altered neurophysiological responses underlying inhibitory control and emotion processing difficulties in ASD, together with their associations with age and various domains of cognitive and social function. This was accomplished by assessing electroencephalographic recordings during an emotional go/nogo task alongside parent rating scales of behavior. Event related potential (ERP) N200 component amplitudes were reduced in children with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children. No group differences were found, however, for task performance, P300 amplitude or latency, or N170 amplitude or latency, suggesting that individuals with ASD may only present conflict monitoring abnormalities, as reflected by the reduced N200 component, compared to TD individuals. Consistent with previous findings, increased age correlated with improved task performance scores and reduced N200 amplitude in the TD group, indicating that as these children develop, their neural systems become more efficient. These associations were not identified in the ASD group. Results also showed significant associations between increased N200 amplitudes and improved executive control abilities and decreased autism traits in TD children only. The newly discovered findings of decreased brain activation in children with ASD, alongside differences in correlations with age compared to TD children, provide a potential neurophysiological indicator of atypical development of inhibitory control mechanisms in these individuals.

Attentional fluctuations in preschoolers: Direct and indirect relations with task accuracy, academic readiness, and school performance

Attentional control fluctuates in the presence of internal and external distractors, wandering on and off a given task. The current study investigated individual differences in attentional fluctuations in 250 preschoolers. Attentional fluctuations were assessed via intra-individual variability in response time in a Go/No-Go task. Greater fluctuations in attentional control were linked to lower task accuracy. In addition, greater attentional fluctuations predicted lower performance in a task of cognitive flexibility, the Dimensional Change Card Sort task. Attentional fluctuations were also associated with laboratory measures of academic readiness in preschool, as assessed by the Applied Problems and Letter-Word Identification subscales of the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement, which in turn predicted teacher reports of academic performance in first grade. Attentional fluctuations also had indirect associations with emergent math skills in preschool, via cognitive flexibility, as well as indirect associations with first-grade teacher reports of academic performance, via the relations between cognitive flexibility and emergent math skills in preschool. These results suggest that consistency is an important aspect of attentional control during early childhood.

Maternal emotional support but not cognitive support during problem-solving predicts increases in cognitive flexibility in early childhood

Cognitive flexibility is a sophisticated form of executive functions that predicts a range of adaptive outcomes; however, little is known about which caregiving behaviors predict the rapid improvements in children’s cognitive flexibility during early childhood. This study examined whether ordinary variations in mothers’ provision of emotional and cognitive support during problem-solving predict children’s cognitive flexibility and tested whether children’s cognitive flexibility predicts caregiving behaviors across time. Two hundred and seventy-eight children and their caregivers (96% mothers) participated in laboratory visits when children were in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. At each visit, cognitive flexibility was measured via a computerized version of the Dimensional Change Card Sort task and mothers’ behaviors were observed during a semi-structured problem-solving board game task. Results from autoregressive cross-lagged structural regression analyses indicated that mothers’ emotional support predicted greater child cognitive flexibility from preschool to kindergarten, and from kindergarten to first grade, after accounting for the stability in these constructs over time and controlling for the influence of maternal education, and child age and minority status. Mothers’ cognitive support did not predict child cognitive flexibility over time. Child cognitive flexibility did not lead to changes in caregiving behaviors over time. Findings suggest that mothers’ provision of emotional support during problem-solving may be an important proximal mechanism that contributes to children’s cognitive flexibility across early childhood.

Individual differences in ERP measures of executive function in early childhood: Relation to low-risk preterm birth and parent-reported behavior

Although behavioral studies have demonstrated that executive function (EF) develops rapidly during early childhood, few studies have investigated neural systems supporting EF during the preschool years. These systems are sensitive to variations in children's early life experiences, including preterm birth. The current study collected behavioral and event related potential (ERP) data during an EF task (directional Stroop) in a sample of 150 full-term and low-risk preterm children aged 4-years. Children's IQ and processing speed (WPPSI-III), and parent report of EF (BRIEF-P), were also measured. Forty-nine children born full-term and 43 low-risk preterm children provided useable ERP data. Similar to prior studies with adults and older children, preschool-aged children showed modulation of ERP components (N2, P3) by cognitive conflict. Effects of trial type were also present for early attentional components (N1 and P2). Exploratory analyses demonstrated that ERP measures of EF were correlated with individual differences in cognitive and behavioral functioning in both full-term and low-risk preterm populations. Future research investigating the neural correlates of early measures of EF in low-risk preterm children and other at-risk groups is warranted to better understand how trajectories of EF development are altered in the first years of life.

A systematic assessment of socioeconomic status and executive functioning in early childhood

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) consistently relates to poorer executive function (EF). This study used a systematic and nuanced approach to understand how SES relates to children's EF at a process level. We assessed children aged 4.5-5.5 years. This is a key developmental period because EF is no longer a unitary construct but rather EF components statistically load on separate factors and index distinct aspects of EF. Children completed a working memory task that involved a cognitive load component and a go/no-go task to assess inhibitory control and vigilance. Accuracy and reaction time were assessed, and each task involved four blocks to assess performance over time. Lower SES related to lower accuracy for working memory, inhibitory control, and vigilance as well as slower reaction time for working memory. SES did not relate to go/no-go reaction time. For working memory, lower SES related to poorer accuracy on lower cognitive load trials, but there were no SES differences on higher cognitive load trials. SES did not relate to maintenance of performance over time. Results suggest that for this age group the majority of domains showed SES differences. However, there were no SES differences in performance for remembering two items and maintaining performance. Thus, although overall lower SES related to poorer EF performance, there were no SES effects for skills that are still emerging for all children, namely, maintaining task performance across time and remembering two items at once. Results highlight the importance of assessing EF as a multidimensional construct and may help to identify targets for intervention.

The neurophysiological basis of developmental changes during sequential cognitive flexibility between adolescents and adults

Cognitive flexibility is a major facet of executive functions and often refers to sequential task control; that is, it is very likely that one may re-encounter a task that has previously been abandoned to carry out a different task. In the context of sequential cognitive flexibility, the "backward inhibition (BI) effect" has been studied quite extensively. Here we ask whether there are age-related differences between adolescents and adults to overcome BI and what system-neurophysiological mechanisms underlie these modulations. This was examined using a system neurophysiological study procedure combining event-related potentials data with source localization and EEG signal decomposition methods. We show that sequential cognitive flexibility, and the ability overcome backward inhibition, is inferior in adolescents compared with adults. Accounting for intra-individual variability in the neurophysiological data, this data suggest that two partly inter-related processes underlie the differences between adolescents than adults to overcome backward inhibition: One process refers to the suppression of the inhibitory effect of the n-1 trial on the n-2 trial during perceptual categorization of incoming information that is associated with right inferior frontal regions. The other process refers to immature response selection and conflict monitoring mechanisms associated with regions in the medial frontal cortex.

Applied Implications of Understanding the Natural Development of Effortful Control

Effortful control (EC) is an important target for many interventions intended to facilitate positive psychosocial outcomes. The first wave of these efforts have emphasized adult-to-child instruction and individualized practice at target skills. Future tests of these ideas will be facilitated by efforts to critically evaluate and improve the construct validity of EC measures. New avenues for these applied approaches will also grow out of a more complete understanding of the processes that govern EC development. Specifically, I argue that the natural development of EC includes important roles for contextual and peer relationship factors that have yet to be capitalized on in efforts to increase EC in children.

Comparing Self-Regulation-Associated Event Related Potentials in Preschool Children with and without High Levels of Disruptive Behavior

Deficient self-regulation plays a key role in the etiology of early onset disruptive behavior disorders and signals risk for chronic psychopathology. However, to date, there has been no research comparing preschool children with and without high levels of disruptive behavior using Event Related Potentials (ERPs) associated with specific self-regulation sub-processes. We examined 15 preschool children with high levels of disruptive behavior (35 % female) and 20 peers with low disruptive behavior (50 % female) who completed a Go/No-go task that provided emotionally valenced feedback. We tested whether 4 ERP components: the Error Related Negativity, the Error Positivity, the Feedback Related Negativity, and the No-go N2, differed in preschool children with and without high levels of disruptive behavior. Preschoolers with high levels of disruptive behavior showed less differentiation between the Error Positivity and corresponding waveforms following correct responses at posterior sites. Preschoolers with high and low disruptive behavior also showed differences in Go/No-go N2 waveform amplitudes across electrodes. These findings suggest that preschool children with high levels of disruptive behavior may show abnormal brain activity during certain self-regulation sub-processes, informing potential advances in conceptualizing and treating early disruptive behavior.

Frontal Control Process in Intentional Forgetting: Electrophysiological Evidence

In this study, we aimed to seek for the neural evidence of the inhibition control process in directed forgetting (DF). We adopted a modified item-method DF paradigm, in which four kinds of cues were involved. In some trials, the words were followed by only a forgetting (F) cue. In the other trials, after a word was presented, a maintenance (M) cue was presented, followed by an explicit remembering (M-R) cue or an forgetting (M-F) cue. Data from 19 healthy adult participants showed that, (1) compared with the remembering cue (i.e., M-R cue), forgetting cues (i.e., M-F cue and F cue) evoked enhanced frontal N2 and reduced parietal P3 and late positive complex (LPC) components, indicating that the forgetting cues might trigger a more intensive cognitive control process and that fewer amounts of cognitive resources were recruited for the further rehearsal process. (2) Both the M cue and the F cue evoked enhanced N2 and decreased P3 and LPC components than the M-R or M-F cue. These results might indicate that compared with the M-R and M-F cues, both the M and F cues evoked a more intensive cognitive control process and decreased attentional resource allocation process. (3) The F cue evoked a decreased P2 component and an enhanced N2 component relative to the other cues (i.e., M-R, M-F, M), indicating that the F cue received fewer amounts of attentional resources and evoked a more intensive cognitive control process. Taken together, forgetting cues were associated with enhanced N2 activity relative to the maintenance rehearsal process or the remembering process, suggesting an enhanced cognitive control process under DF. This cognitive control process might reflect the role of inhibition in DF as attempting to suppress the ongoing encoding.

Effect of the COMT Val158Met genotype on lateral prefrontal activations in young children

Low executive function (EF) during early childhood is a major risk factor for developmental delay, academic failure, and social withdrawal. Susceptible genes may affect the molecular and biological mechanisms underpinning EF. More specifically, genes associated with the regulation of prefrontal dopamine may modulate the response of prefrontal neurons during executive control. Several studies with adults and older children have shown that variants of the catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) gene are associated with behavioral performance and prefrontal activations in EF tasks. However, the effect of the COMT genotype on prefrontal activations during EF tasks on young children is still unknown. The present study examined whether a common functional polymorphism (Val158Met) in the COMT gene was associated with prefrontal activations and cognitive shifting in 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children. The study revealed that, compared with children with at least one Met allele (Met/Met and Met/Val), children who were Val homozygous (i) were more able to flexibly switch rules in cognitive shifting tasks and (ii) exhibited increased activations in lateral prefrontal regions during these tasks. This is the first evidence that demonstrates the relationship between a gene polymorphism and prefrontal activations in young children. It also indicates that COMT Val homozygosity may be advantageous for cognitive shifting and prefrontal functions, at least during early childhood, and children who possess this variant may have a lower risk of developing future cognitive and social development issues.

High Amplitude EEG Motor Potential during Repetitive Foot Movement: Possible Use and Challenges for Futuristic BCIs That Restore Mobility after Spinal Cord Injury

Recent advances in neuroprostheses provide us with promising ideas of how to improve the quality of life in people suffering from impaired motor functioning of upper and lower limbs. Especially for patients after spinal cord injury (SCI), futuristic devices that are controlled by thought via brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) might be of tremendous help in managing daily tasks and restoring at least some mobility. However, there are certain problems arising when trying to implement BCI technology especially in such a heterogenous patient group. A plethora of processes occurring after the injuries change the brain's structure as well as its functionality collectively referred to as neuroplasticity. These changes are very different between individuals, leading to an increasing interest to reveal the exact changes occurring after SCI. In this study we investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) derived from electroencephalography (EEG) signals recorded during the (attempted) execution and imagination of hand and foot movements in healthy subjects and patients with SCI. As ERPs and especially early components are of interest for BCI research we aimed to investigate differences between 22 healthy volunteers and 7 patients (mean age = 51.86, SD = 15.49) suffering from traumatic or non-traumatic SCI since 2–314 months (mean = 116,57, SD = 125,55). We aimed to explore differences in ERP responses as well as the general presence of component that might be of interest to further consider for incorporation into BCI research. In order to match the real-life situation of BCIs for controlling neuroprostheses, we worked on small trial numbers (<25), only. We obtained a focal potential over Pz in ten healthy participants but in none of the patients after lenient artifact rejection. The potential was characterized by a high amplitude, it correlated with the repeated movements (6 times in 6 s) and in nine subjects it significantly differed from a resting condition. Furthermore, there are strong arguments against possible confounding factors leading to the potential's appearance. This phenomenon, occurring when movements are repeatedly conducted, might represent a possible potential to be used in futuristic BCIs and further studies should try to investigate the replicability of its appearance.

Development and Plasticity of Cognitive Flexibility in Early and Middle Childhood

Cognitive flexibility, the ability to flexibly switch between tasks, is a core dimension of executive functions (EFs) allowing to control actions and to adapt flexibly to changing environments. It supports the management of multiple tasks, the development of novel, adaptive behavior and is associated with various life outcomes. Cognitive flexibility develops rapidly in preschool and continuously increases well into adolescence, mirroring the growth of neural networks involving the prefrontal cortex. Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in interventions designed to improve cognitive flexibility in children in order to support the many developmental outcomes associated with cognitive flexibility. This article provides a brief review of the development and plasticity of cognitive flexibility across early and middle childhood (i.e., from preschool to elementary school age). Focusing on interventions designed to improve cognitive flexibility in typically developing children, we report evidence for significant training and transfer effects while acknowledging that current findings on transfer are heterogeneous. Finally, we introduce metacognitive training as a promising new approach to promote cognitive flexibility and to support transfer of training.

Pathways from maternal effortful control to child self-regulation: The role of maternal emotional support

This study examined the direct and indirect pathways from maternal effortful control to 2 aspects of children's self-regulation-executive functioning and behavioral regulation-via maternal emotional support. Two hundred seventy-eight children and their primary caregivers (96% mothers) participated in laboratory visits when children were 4 and 5 years, and teachers reported on children's behavior at kindergarten. At the 4-year assessment, maternal effortful control was measured using the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (Evans & Rothbart, 2007) and maternal emotional support was observed during a semistructured mother-child problem-solving task. At the 5-year assessment, children's executive functioning was measured using laboratory tasks designed to assess updating/working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, whereas behavioral regulation was assessed via teacher-report questionnaires on children's attention control, discipline and persistence, and work habits. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that, after controlling for child gender and minority status, and maternal education, maternal effortful control was indirectly associated with both child executive functioning and behavioral regulation through maternal emotional support. Maternal effortful control had a direct association with children's teacher-reported behavioral regulation but not observed executive functioning. These findings suggest that maternal effortful control may be a key contributing factor to the development of children's self-regulatory competencies through its impact on maternal emotional support. (PsycINFO Database Record