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Bevandić J, Chareyron LJ, Bachevalier J, Cacucci F, Genzel L, Newcombe NS, Vargha-Khadem F, Ólafsdóttir HF. Episodic memory development: Bridging animal and human research. Neuron 2024; 112:1060-1080. [PMID: 38359826 PMCID: PMC11129319 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Human episodic memory is not functionally evident until about 2 years of age and continues to develop into the school years. Behavioral studies have elucidated this developmental timeline and its constituent processes. In tandem, lesion and neurophysiological studies in non-human primates and rodents have identified key neural substrates and circuit mechanisms that may underlie episodic memory development. Despite this progress, collaborative efforts between psychologists and neuroscientists remain limited, hindering progress. Here, we seek to bridge human and non-human episodic memory development research by offering a comparative review of studies using humans, non-human primates, and rodents. We highlight critical theoretical and methodological issues that limit cross-fertilization and propose a common research framework, adaptable to different species, that may facilitate cross-species research endeavors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juraj Bevandić
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Loïc J Chareyron
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry, Developmental Neurosciences, University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK; Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jocelyne Bachevalier
- Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Emory National Primate Research Center, Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Francesca Cacucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Lisa Genzel
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Nora S Newcombe
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Faraneh Vargha-Khadem
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry, Developmental Neurosciences, University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
| | - H Freyja Ólafsdóttir
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
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2
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Thomson AR, Hwa H, Pasanta D, Hopwood B, Powell HJ, Lawrence R, Tabuenca ZG, Arichi T, Edden RAE, Chai X, Puts NA. The developmental trajectory of 1H-MRS brain metabolites from childhood to adulthood. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae046. [PMID: 38430105 PMCID: PMC10908220 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Human brain development is ongoing throughout childhood, with for example, myelination of nerve fibers and refinement of synaptic connections continuing until early adulthood. 1H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1H-MRS) can be used to quantify the concentrations of endogenous metabolites (e.g. glutamate and γ -aminobutyric acid (GABA)) in the human brain in vivo and so can provide valuable, tractable insight into the biochemical processes that support postnatal neurodevelopment. This can feasibly provide new insight into and aid the management of neurodevelopmental disorders by providing chemical markers of atypical development. This study aims to characterize the normative developmental trajectory of various brain metabolites, as measured by 1H-MRS from a midline posterior parietal voxel. We find significant non-linear trajectories for GABA+ (GABA plus macromolecules), Glx (glutamate + glutamine), total choline (tCho) and total creatine (tCr) concentrations. Glx and GABA+ concentrations steeply decrease across childhood, with more stable trajectories across early adulthood. tCr and tCho concentrations increase from childhood to early adulthood. Total N-acetyl aspartate (tNAA) and Myo-Inositol (mI) concentrations are relatively stable across development. Trajectories likely reflect fundamental neurodevelopmental processes (including local circuit refinement) which occur from childhood to early adulthood and can be associated with cognitive development; we find GABA+ concentrations significantly positively correlate with recognition memory scores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice R Thomson
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Department of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah Hwa
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - Duanghathai Pasanta
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - Benjamin Hopwood
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - Helen J Powell
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - Ross Lawrence
- Division of Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, 1629 Thames Street Suite 350, Baltimore, MD 21231, United States
| | - Zeus G Tabuenca
- Department of Statistical Methods, University of Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain
| | - Tomoki Arichi
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Department of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, United Kingdom
- Centre for the Developing Brain, Department of Perinatal Imaging & Health, 1st Floor, South Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
| | - Richard A E Edden
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States
- F.M. Kirby Research Centre for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, 707 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Xiaoqian Chai
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, QC H3A2B4, Canada
| | - Nicolaas A Puts
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Department of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, United Kingdom
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3
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Zelazo PD, Carlson SM. Reconciling the Context-Dependency and Domain-Generality of Executive Function Skills from a Developmental Systems Perspective. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2156515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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4
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Menks WM, Ekerdt C, Janzen G, Kidd E, Lemhöfer K, Fernández G, McQueen JM. Study protocol: a comprehensive multi-method neuroimaging approach to disentangle developmental effects and individual differences in second language learning. BMC Psychol 2022; 10:169. [PMID: 35804430 PMCID: PMC9270835 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-022-00873-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background While it is well established that second language (L2) learning success changes with age and across individuals, the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for this developmental shift and these individual differences are largely unknown. We will study the behavioral and neural factors that subserve new grammar and word learning in a large cross-sectional developmental sample. This study falls under the NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [Dutch Research Council]) Language in Interaction consortium (website: https://www.languageininteraction.nl/). Methods We will sample 360 healthy individuals across a broad age range between 8 and 25 years. In this paper, we describe the study design and protocol, which involves multiple study visits covering a comprehensive behavioral battery and extensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols. On the basis of these measures, we will create behavioral and neural fingerprints that capture age-based and individual variability in new language learning. The behavioral fingerprint will be based on first and second language proficiency, memory systems, and executive functioning. We will map the neural fingerprint for each participant using the following MRI modalities: T1‐weighted, diffusion-weighted, resting-state functional MRI, and multiple functional-MRI paradigms. With respect to the functional MRI measures, half of the sample will learn grammatical features and half will learn words of a new language. Combining all individual fingerprints allows us to explore the neural maturation effects on grammar and word learning. Discussion This will be one of the largest neuroimaging studies to date that investigates the developmental shift in L2 learning covering preadolescence to adulthood. Our comprehensive approach of combining behavioral and neuroimaging data will contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms influencing this developmental shift and individual differences in new language learning. We aim to answer: (I) do these fingerprints differ according to age and can these explain the age-related differences observed in new language learning? And (II) which aspects of the behavioral and neural fingerprints explain individual differences (across and within ages) in grammar and word learning? The results of this study provide a unique opportunity to understand how the development of brain structure and function influence new language learning success. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-022-00873-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- W M Menks
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. .,Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - C Ekerdt
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - G Janzen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.,Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - E Kidd
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.,ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, Australia.,Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - K Lemhöfer
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - G Fernández
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - J M McQueen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.,Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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5
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Foroutannia A, Nazarimehr F, Ghasemi M, Jafari S. Chaos in memory function of sleep: A nonlinear dynamical analysis in thalamocortical study. J Theor Biol 2021; 528:110837. [PMID: 34273361 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Studying the dynamical behaviors of neuronal models may help in better understanding of real nervous system. In addition, it can help researchers to understand some specific phenomena in neuronal system. The thalamocortical network is made of neurons in the thalamus and cortex. In it, the memory function is consolidated in sleep by creating up and down state oscillations (1 Hz) and fast (13-17 Hz) - slow (8-12 Hz) spindles. Recently, a nonlinear biological model for up-down oscillations and fast-slow spindles of the thalamocortical network has been proposed. In this research, the power spectral for the fast-slow spindle of the model is extracted. Dynamical properties of the model, such as the bifurcation diagrams, and attractors are investigated. The results show that the variation of the synaptic power between the excitatory neurons of the cortex and the reticular neurons in the thalamus changes the spindles' activity. According to previous experimental findings, it is an essential rule for consolidating the memory function during sleep. It is also pointed out that when the fast-slow spindles of the brain increase, the dynamics of the thalamocortical system tend to chaos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Foroutannia
- Neural Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran
| | - Fahimeh Nazarimehr
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 350, Hafez Ave, Valiasr Square, Tehran 159163-4311, Iran
| | - Mahdieh Ghasemi
- Neural Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran.
| | - Sajad Jafari
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 350, Hafez Ave, Valiasr Square, Tehran 159163-4311, Iran; Health Technology Research Institute, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 350, Hafez Ave, Valiasr Square, Tehran 159163-4311, Iran
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Patsenko EG, Adluru N, Birn RM, Stodola DE, Kral TRA, Farajian R, Flook L, Burghy CA, Steinkuehler C, Davidson RJ. Mindfulness video game improves connectivity of the fronto-parietal attentional network in adolescents: A multi-modal imaging study. Sci Rep 2019; 9:18667. [PMID: 31822684 PMCID: PMC6904443 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53393-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Mindfulness training has been shown to improve attention and change the underlying brain substrates in adults. Most mindfulness training programs involve a myriad of techniques, and it is difficult to attribute changes to any particular aspect of the program. Here, we created a video game, Tenacity, which models a specific mindfulness technique – focused attention on one’s breathing – and assessed its potential to train an attentional network in adolescents. A combined analysis of resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) yielded convergent results – change in communication within the left fronto-parietal network after two weeks of playing Tenacity compared to a control game. Rs-FC analysis showed greater connectivity between left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and left inferior parietal cortex (IPC) in the Tenacity group. Importantly, changes in left dlPFC – IPC rs-FC and changes in structural connectivity of the white matter tract that connects these regions –left superior longitudinal fasiculus (SLF) – were associated with changes in performance on an attention task. Finally, changes in left dlPFC – IPC rs-FC correlated with the change in left SLF structural connectivity as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) in the Tenacity group only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena G Patsenko
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.
| | - Nagesh Adluru
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Rasmus M Birn
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd., Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Diane E Stodola
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Tammi R A Kral
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Reza Farajian
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Lisa Flook
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Cory A Burghy
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Constance Steinkuehler
- Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine, 5019 Donald Bren Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3440, USA
| | - Richard J Davidson
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 625W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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7
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Määttä S, Säisänen L, Kallioniemi E, Lakka TA, Lintu N, Haapala EA, Koskenkorva P, Niskanen E, Ferreri F, Könönen M. Maturation changes the excitability and effective connectivity of the frontal lobe: A developmental TMS-EEG study. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:2320-2335. [PMID: 30648321 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2018] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation with simultaneous electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) offers direct neurophysiological insight into excitability and connectivity within neural circuits. However, there have been few developmental TMS-EEG studies to date, and they all have focused on primary motor cortex stimulation. In the present study, we used navigated high-density TMS-EEG to investigate the maturation of the superior frontal cortex (dorsal premotor cortex [PMd]), which is involved in a broad range of motor and cognitive functions known to develop with age. We demonstrated that reactivity to frontal cortex TMS decreases with development. We also showed that although frontal cortex TMS elicits an equally complex TEP waveform in all age groups, the statistically significant between-group differences in the topography of the TMS-evoked peaks and differences in current density maps suggest changes in effective connectivity of the right PMd with maturation. More generally, our results indicate that direct study of the brain's excitability and effective connectivity via TMS-EEG co-registration can also be applied to pediatric populations outside the primary motor cortex, and may provide useful information for developmental studies and studies on developmental neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Määttä
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Finland.,Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Laura Säisänen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Finland.,Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Elisa Kallioniemi
- Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
| | - Timo A Lakka
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Finland.,Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.,Foundation for Research in Health Exercise and Nutrition, Kuopio Research Institute of Exercise Medicine, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Niina Lintu
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Finland
| | - Eero A Haapala
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Finland.,Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Päivi Koskenkorva
- Department of Clinical Radiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Eini Niskanen
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Florinda Ferreri
- Department of Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Neurophysiology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Mervi Könönen
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.,Department of Clinical Radiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
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8
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Weise CM, Bachmann T, Schroeter ML, Saur D. When less is more: Structural correlates of core executive functions in young adults - A VBM and cortical thickness study. Neuroimage 2019; 189:896-903. [PMID: 30716455 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2018] [Revised: 12/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The term executive functions (EF) describes a set of higher cognitive abilities/skills needed for goal-oriented and flexible behavior. In contrast to a multitude of functional neuroimaging studies of EF performance, only limited and partially inconclusive data is available for the structural-neuroanatomical underpinnings of EFs, particularly in healthy adults. METHODS Here, we applied voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and additional analyses of cortical thickness (CTH; via surface-based morphometry) to a large sample of healthy young adults from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1110; Age 28.8 ± 3.7 years) with structural MRI data and test data reflective of three core EFs [i.e. cognitive flexibility (CF), inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM)]. RESULTS For CF and IC, VBM analyses yielded a distinct and largely overlapping pattern of exclusively negative associations (CF>IC), most prominently within the medial prefrontal cortex, the insular cortex, central/precentral regions, subcortical and mesotemporal structures. A similar, yet less pronounced pattern of negative associations was found in analyses of CTH. In contrast, both VBM and CTH analyses yielded no significant associations with WM performance. CONCLUSIONS Brain regions we found negatively associated with measures of CF and IC have been repeatedly highlighted by functional imaging studies of EF performance. The here observed inverse relationship with brain structural parameters may be related to the young age of our study population and well established neurobiological mechanisms of cortical maturation (i.e. cortical thinning via synaptic pruning and cortical myelination).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Matthias L Schroeter
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany; Day Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Germany
| | - Dorothee Saur
- Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Germany
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9
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A. Breukelaar I, Williams LM, Antees C, Grieve SM, Foster SL, Gomes L, Korgaonkar MS. Cognitive ability is associated with changes in the functional organization of the cognitive control brain network. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:5028-5038. [PMID: 30136345 PMCID: PMC6866537 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Revised: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognitive control is one of the most important skills in day-to-day social and intellectual functioning but we are yet to understand the neural basis of the group of behaviors required to carry this out. Here, we probed changes over time in the brain network associated with cognitive control (the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the dorsal posterior parietal cortex, and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) using both behavioral assays and functional brain imaging during a selective working memory task in 69 healthy participants within the age range 18-38 years (mean: 25, SD: ±6), assessed twice, 2 years apart. We aimed to explore the relationship of changing network activation and connectivity with behavioral tasks associated with cognitive control in this otherwise neurodevelopmentally stable group. We found that increased connectivity between frontoparietal cognitive control network regions during the working memory task was associated with improved memory and executive functions over the 2-year period and that this association was not impacted by age, gender, or baseline performance. These results provide evidence that changes in the functional organization of the cognitive control brain network occur despite the absence of neurodevelopment, aging or targeted cognitive training effects, and could modulate cognitive performance in early to mid-adulthood. Understanding how and why this change is occurring could provide insights into the mechanisms through which cognitive control ability is cultivated over time. This could aid in the development of interventions in cases where cognitive control is impaired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabella A. Breukelaar
- Brain Dynamics Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical ResearchThe University of SydneyWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Leanne M. Williams
- Brain Dynamics Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical ResearchThe University of SydneyWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
- Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesStanford UniversityStanfordCalifornia
- VA Palo Alto (Sierra‐Pacific MIRECC)Palo AltoCalifornia
| | - Cassandra Antees
- Brain Dynamics Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical ResearchThe University of SydneyWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Stuart M. Grieve
- Brain Dynamics Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical ResearchThe University of SydneyWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
- Sydney Translational Imaging Laboratory, Heart Research InstituteCharles Perkins Centre and Sydney Medical School, University of SydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Department of RadiologyRoyal Prince Alfred HospitalCamperdownNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Sheryl L. Foster
- Department of RadiologyWestmead HospitalWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
- Faculty of Health Science, The Discipline of Medical Radiation SciencesThe University of SydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Lavier Gomes
- Department of RadiologyWestmead HospitalWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Mayuresh S. Korgaonkar
- Brain Dynamics Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical ResearchThe University of SydneyWestmeadNew South WalesAustralia
- Discipline of PsychiatrySydney Medical SchoolWestmeadSydneyAustralia
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10
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Harada T, Tsuruno M, Shirokawa T. Developmental trajectory of rule management system in children. Sci Rep 2018; 8:12798. [PMID: 30143721 PMCID: PMC6109121 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31235-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to apply rules for environmental adaptation is crucial for human life. This capacity may require high-order cognitive control, such as when managing personal behavior by selecting among context-dependent internal rules. This process is poorly understood in children, especially in terms of the age at which multiple-rules processing becomes possible. We created a child-appropriate "rule management paradigm" to elucidate developmental changes in rule processing, and used it to investigate the trajectory of the rule management system in 322 children aged 4 to 6 years, with comparison to 57 adults. We found age-specific capacities in multiple-rules processing, with the majority of 4-year-olds failing at concurrent management of multiple-rules processing, a capacity that became well developed by age 6. Task performance in multiple-rules processing improved steeply with age and approached the adult level by late age 6. By contrast, single-rule processing on single-feature stimuli approached the adult level by age 5. Our main findings suggest that the critical period for the development of the multiple-rules processing system occurs before age 7, and is associated with the developmental period of the rule management system and other cognitive resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taeko Harada
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Handayama 1-20-1, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-3192, Japan.
| | - Motoharu Tsuruno
- Mebae Child Development Academy, Minamicho1-26 2F, Saidaiji, Nara, 631-0824, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Shirokawa
- Faculty of Sport Sciences, Nihon Fukushi University, Okuda, Mihama, Aichi, 470-3295, Japan
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11
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Cignetti F, Fontan A, Menant J, Nazarian B, Anton JL, Vaugoyeau M, Assaiante C. Protracted Development of the Proprioceptive Brain Network During and Beyond Adolescence. Cereb Cortex 2018; 27:1285-1296. [PMID: 26733535 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhv323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Proprioceptive processing is important for appropriate motor control, providing error-feedback and internal representation of movement for adjusting the motor command. Although proprioceptive functioning improves during childhood and adolescence, we still have few clues about how the proprioceptive brain network develops. Here, we investigated developmental changes in the functional organization of this network in early adolescents (n = 18, 12 ± 1 years), late adolescents (n = 18, 15 ± 1), and young adults (n = 18, 32 ± 4), by examining task-evoked univariate activity and patterns of functional connectivity (FC) associated with seeds placed in cortical (supramarginal gyrus) and subcortical (dorsal rostral putamen) regions. We found that although the network is already well established in early adolescence both in terms of topology and functioning principles (e.g., long-distance communication and economy in wiring cost), it is still undergoing refinement during adolescence, including a shift from diffuse to focal FC and a decreased FC strength. This developmental effect was particularly pronounced for fronto-striatal connections. Furthermore, changes in FC features continued beyond adolescence, although to a much lower extent. Altogether, these findings point to a protracted developmental time course for the proprioceptive network, which breaks with the relatively early functional maturation often associated with sensorimotor networks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jasmine Menant
- Neuroscience Research Australia and University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Bruno Nazarian
- INT UMR 7289, Centre IRM Fonctionnelle Cérébrale, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - Jean-Luc Anton
- INT UMR 7289, Centre IRM Fonctionnelle Cérébrale, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille, France
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12
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Schneegans S, Bays PM. Restoration of fMRI Decodability Does Not Imply Latent Working Memory States. J Cogn Neurosci 2017; 29:1977-1994. [PMID: 28820674 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Recent imaging studies have challenged the prevailing view that working memory is mediated by sustained neural activity. Using machine learning methods to reconstruct memory content, these studies found that previously diminished representations can be restored by retrospective cueing or other forms of stimulation. These findings have been interpreted as evidence for an activity-silent working memory state that can be reactivated dependent on task demands. Here, we test the validity of this conclusion by formulating a neural process model of working memory based on sustained activity and using this model to emulate a spatial recall task with retro-cueing. The simulation reproduces both behavioral and fMRI results previously taken as evidence for latent states, in particular the restoration of spatial reconstruction quality following an informative cue. Our results demonstrate that recovery of the decodability of an imaging signal does not provide compelling evidence for an activity-silent working memory state.
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Perone S, Plebanek DJ, Lorenz MG, Spencer JP, Samuelson LK. Empirical Tests of a Brain-Based Model of Executive Function Development. Child Dev 2017. [PMID: 28626884 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Executive function (EF) plays a foundational role in development. A brain-based model of EF development is probed for the experiences that strengthen EF in the dimensional change card sort task in which children sort cards by one rule and then are asked to switch to another. Three-year-olds perseverate on the first rule, failing the task, whereas 4-year-olds pass. Three predictions of the model are tested to help 3-year-olds (N = 54) pass. Experiment 1 shows that experience with shapes and the label "shape" helps children. Experiment 2 shows that experience with colors-without a label-helps children. Experiment 3 shows that experience with colors induces dimensional attention. The implications of this work for early intervention are discussed.
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14
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Hearps S, Seal M, Anderson V, McCarthy M, Connellan M, Downie P, De Luca C. The relationship between cognitive and neuroimaging outcomes in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia with chemotherapy only: A systematic review. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2017; 64:225-233. [PMID: 27696698 DOI: 10.1002/pbc.26188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2016] [Revised: 07/07/2016] [Accepted: 07/16/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive late-effects have been identified in patients treated with chemotherapy-only protocols for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), yet the underlying neuropathology is not well understood. This review synthesized recent findings from eight articles investigating the relationship between neurocognitive and neuroimaging outcomes for patients treated for ALL with chemotherapy-only protocols. Reported cognitive domains, imaging methods, and neuroanatomy examined were variable. Despite this, 62.5% (n = 5) of the reviewed studies found a significant relationship between cognitive and imaging outcomes. Greater understanding of the effects of treatment on neuroanatomy and cognitive outcomes is critical for proactively managing ALL cognitive late-effects. Research directions are suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Hearps
- Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.,Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Marc Seal
- Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.,Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Vicki Anderson
- Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.,Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.,Psychology Service, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia.,School of Psychological Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Maria McCarthy
- Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.,Children's Cancer Centre, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia
| | - Madeleine Connellan
- Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.,Children's Cancer Centre, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia
| | - Peter Downie
- Children's Cancer Centre, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia.,Children's Cancer Centre, Monash Children's Hospital, Clayton, Australia.,Department of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
| | - Cinzia De Luca
- Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.,Children's Cancer Centre, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia
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15
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REFERENCES. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/mono.12274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Abstract
Working memory - the ability to maintain and manipulate information over a period of seconds - is a core component of higher cognitive functions. The storage capacity of working memory is limited but can be expanded by training, and evidence of the neural mechanisms underlying this effect is accumulating. Human imaging studies and neurophysiological recordings in non-human primates, together with computational modelling studies, reveal that training increases the activity of prefrontal neurons and the strength of connectivity in the prefrontal cortex and between the prefrontal and parietal cortex. Dopaminergic transmission could have a facilitatory role. These changes more generally inform us of the plasticity of higher cognitive functions.
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Adleman NE, Chen G, Reynolds RC, Frackman A, Razdan V, Weissman DH, Pine DS, Leibenluft E. Age-related differences in the neural correlates of trial-to-trial variations of reaction time. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2016; 19:248-57. [PMID: 27239972 PMCID: PMC5099497 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2015] [Revised: 05/06/2016] [Accepted: 05/08/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Intra-subject variation in reaction time (ISVRT) is a developmentally-important phenomenon that decreases from childhood through young adulthood in parallel with the development of executive functions and networks. Prior work has shown a significant association between trial-by-trial variations in reaction time (RT) and trial-by-trial variations in brain activity as measured by the blood-oxygenated level-dependent (BOLD) response in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. It remains unclear, however, whether such "RT-BOLD" relationships vary with age. Here, we determined whether such trial-by-trial relationships vary with age in a cross-sectional design. We observed an association between age and RT-BOLD relationships in 11 clusters located in visual/occipital regions, frontal and parietal association cortex, precentral/postcentral gyrus, and thalamus. Some of these relationships were negative, reflecting increased BOLD associated with decreased RT, manifesting around the time of stimulus presentation and positive several seconds later. Critically for present purposes, all RT-BOLD relationships increased with age. Thus, RT-BOLD relationships may reflect robust, measurable changes in the brain-behavior relationship across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy E Adleman
- Department of Psychology, The Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20064, USA; Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Richard C Reynolds
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Anna Frackman
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Varun Razdan
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Daniel H Weissman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Ellen Leibenluft
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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Vinette SA, Bray S. Variation in functional connectivity along anterior-to-posterior intraparietal sulcus, and relationship with age across late childhood and adolescence. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2015; 13:32-42. [PMID: 25951196 PMCID: PMC6989812 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2015.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Revised: 04/12/2015] [Accepted: 04/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The intraparietal sulcus (IPS), a region in the dorsal attention network (DAN), has been implicated in multi-sensory attention and working memory. Working memory and attention develop across childhood; changes in functional connectivity within the DAN may relate to this maturation. Previous findings regarding fronto-parietal intrinsic functional connectivity age-effects were mixed. Our study aimed to circumvent limitations of previous work using a large cross-sectional sample, 183 typically developing participants 6.5-20 years, from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange, and seed regions along the anterior-to-posterior axis of the IPS. These seeds, IPS0-4, were entered into functional connectivity models. Group-level models investigated differential connectivity along the IPS and relationships with age. Anterior IPS3/4 exhibited greater connectivity with sensorimotor/pre-motor regions. Posterior IPS0/1 demonstrated greater connectivity with dorsal and ventral visual regions. Positive age-effects were found between IPS3-4 and visual regions. Negative age-effects were found between IPS and superior parietal and medial orbitofrontal cortices. Follow-up region of interest analyses were used to estimate age-effects for DAN and anticorrelated default mode network regions. Results suggest age-effects on IPS functional connectivity are relatively modest, and may differ pre- and across-adolescence. Studying typical age-related connectivity variability within this network may help to understand neurodevelopmental disorders marked by impaired attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Vinette
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Room 293, Heritage Medical Research Building, 3330 Hospital Drive, NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1; Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Room 812, North Tower, Foothills Medical Centre, 1403 - 29th Street NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 2T9; Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, 2888 Shaganappi Trail NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.
| | - Signe Bray
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Room 293, Heritage Medical Research Building, 3330 Hospital Drive, NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1; Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Room 812, North Tower, Foothills Medical Centre, 1403 - 29th Street NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 2T9; Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2888 Shaganappi Trail NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8; Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, 2888 Shaganappi Trail NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.
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Zhang G, Yao L, Shen J, Yang Y, Zhao X. Reorganization of functional brain networks mediates the improvement of cognitive performance following real-time neurofeedback training of working memory. Hum Brain Mapp 2014; 36:1705-15. [PMID: 25545862 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2014] [Revised: 12/13/2014] [Accepted: 12/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is essential for individuals' cognitive functions. Neuroimaging studies indicated that WM fundamentally relied on a frontoparietal working memory network (WMN) and a cinguloparietal default mode network (DMN). Behavioral training studies demonstrated that the two networks can be modulated by WM training. Different from the behavioral training, our recent study used a real-time functional MRI (rtfMRI)-based neurofeedback method to conduct WM training, demonstrating that WM performance can be significantly improved after successfully upregulating the activity of the target region of interest (ROI) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Zhang et al., [2013]: PloS One 8:e73735); however, the neural substrate of rtfMRI-based WM training remains unclear. In this work, we assessed the intranetwork and internetwork connectivity changes of WMN and DMN during the training, and their correlations with the change of brain activity in the target ROI as well as with the improvement of post-training behavior. Our analysis revealed an "ROI-network-behavior" correlation relationship underlying the rtfMRI training. Further mediation analysis indicated that the reorganization of functional brain networks mediated the effect of self-regulation of the target brain activity on the improvement of cognitive performance following the neurofeedback training. The results of this study enhance our understanding of the neural basis of real-time neurofeedback and suggest a new direction to improve WM performance by regulating the functional connectivity in the WM related networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaoyan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
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20
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Domain-general and domain-specific functional networks in working memory. Neuroimage 2014; 102 Pt 2:646-56. [PMID: 25178986 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.08.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2013] [Revised: 07/15/2014] [Accepted: 08/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is a latent cognitive structure that serves to store and manipulate a limited amount of information over a short time period. How information is maintained in WM remains a debated issue: it is unclear whether stimuli from different sensory domains are maintained under distinct mechanisms or maintained under the same mechanism. Previous neuroimaging research on this issue to date has focused on individual brain regions and has not provided a comprehensive view of the functional networks underlying multi-domain WM. To study the functional networks involved in visual and auditory WM, we applied constrained principal component analysis (CPCA) to a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset acquired when participants performed a change-detection task requiring them to remember only visual, only auditory, or both visual and auditory stimuli. Analysis revealed evidence of both [1] domain-specific networks responsive to either visual or auditory WM (but not both), and [2] domain-general networks responsive to both visual and auditory WM. The domain-specific networks showed load-dependent activations during only encoding, whereas a domain-general network was sensitive to WM load across encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. The latter domain-general network likely reflected attentional processes involved in WM encoding, retrieval, and possibly maintenance as well. These results do not support the domain-specific account of WM maintenance but instead favor the domain-general theory that items from different sensory domains are maintained under the same mechanism.
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21
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Johnson JS, Simmering VR, Buss AT. Beyond slots and resources: grounding cognitive concepts in neural dynamics. Atten Percept Psychophys 2014; 76:1630-54. [PMID: 24306983 PMCID: PMC4047207 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0596-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Research over the past decade has suggested that the ability to hold information in visual working memory (VWM) may be limited to as few as three to four items. However, the precise nature and source of these capacity limits remains hotly debated. Most commonly, capacity limits have been inferred from studies of visual change detection, in which performance declines systematically as a function of the number of items that participants must remember. According to one view, such declines indicate that a limited number of fixed-resolution representations are held in independent memory "slots." Another view suggests that such capacity limits are more apparent than real, but emerge as limited memory resources are distributed across more to-be-remembered items. Here we argue that, although both perspectives have merit and have generated and explained impressive amounts of empirical data, their central focus on the representations--rather than processes--underlying VWM may ultimately limit continuing progress in this area. As an alternative, we describe a neurally grounded, process-based approach to VWM: the dynamic field theory. Simulations demonstrate that this model can account for key aspects of behavioral performance in change detection, in addition to generating novel behavioral predictions that have been confirmed experimentally. Furthermore, we describe extensions of the model to recall tasks, the integration of visual features, cognitive development, individual differences, and functional imaging studies of VWM. We conclude by discussing the importance of grounding psychological concepts in neural dynamics, as a first step toward understanding the link between brain and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey S Johnson
- Department of Psychology and Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, Dept. 2765, P.O. Box 6050, Fargo, North Dakota, 58108-6050, USA,
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22
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Klingberg T. Childhood cognitive development as a skill. Trends Cogn Sci 2014; 18:573-9. [PMID: 25042686 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2014] [Revised: 06/03/2014] [Accepted: 06/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Theories view childhood development as being either driven by structural maturation of the brain or being driven by skill-learning. It is hypothesized here that working memory (WM) development during childhood is partly driven by training effects in the environment, and that similar neural mechanisms underlie training-induced plasticity and childhood development. In particular, the functional connectivity of a fronto-parietal network is suggested to be associated with WM capacity. The striatum, dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) activity, and corticostriatal white-matter tracts, on the other hand, seem to be more important for plasticity and change of WM capacity during both training and development. In this view, the development of WM capacity during childhood partly involves the same mechanisms as skill-learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torkel Klingberg
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Retzius Väg 8, 17176 Stockholm, Sweden.
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Tulsky DS, Carlozzi N, Chiaravalloti ND, Beaumont JL, Kisala PA, Mungas D, Conway K, Gershon R. NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB): list sorting test to measure working memory. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2014; 20:599-610. [PMID: 24959983 PMCID: PMC4426848 DOI: 10.1017/s135561771400040x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The List Sorting Working Memory Test was designed to assess working memory (WM) as part of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. List Sorting is a sequencing task requiring children and adults to sort and sequence stimuli that are presented visually and auditorily. Validation data are presented for 268 participants ages 20 to 85 years. A subset of participants (N=89) was retested 7 to 21 days later. As expected, the List Sorting Test had moderately high correlations with other measures of working memory and executive functioning (convergent validity) but a low correlation with a test of receptive vocabulary (discriminant validity). Furthermore, List Sorting demonstrates expected changes over the age span and has excellent test-retest reliability. Collectively, these results provide initial support for the construct validity of the List Sorting Working Memory Measure as a measure of working memory. However, the relationship between the List Sorting Test and general executive function has yet to be determined.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S. Tulsky
- Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, and General Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York
- Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, New Jersey
| | - Noelle Carlozzi
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | | | - Jennifer L. Beaumont
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Pamela A. Kisala
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Dan Mungas
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis, California
| | - Kevin Conway
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Richard Gershon
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
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The elusive concept of brain network. Comment on "Understanding brain networks and brain organization" by Luiz Pessoa. Phys Life Rev 2014; 11:448-51. [PMID: 24998043 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2014.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2014] [Accepted: 06/11/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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Spadoni AD, Simmons AN, Yang TT, Tapert SF. Family history of alcohol use disorders and neuromaturation: a functional connectivity study with adolescents. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 2014; 39:356-64. [PMID: 24200205 DOI: 10.3109/00952990.2013.818680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A positive family history (FHP) of alcohol use disorders (AUD) is linked to increased risk for personal AUD, but the mechanisms behind this risk are unclear. Previous research suggests that a subtle neurodevelopmental lag in FHP adolescents may contribute to risk for future AUD. METHODS Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) response to a spatial working memory (SWM) task was examined for markers of neuromaturational delay in 85 youth with and without FHP. It was hypothesized that FHP adolescents (n = 24, ages 12-14 years), as compared to matched FHN youth (n = 26, ages 12-14 years), would show less similarity to brain connectivity observed in older adolescents (n = 35, ages 16-20 years) and that statistical comparison of SWM functional connectivity models would differentiate FHN and FHP youth. Structural equation modeling tested the fit of brain response connectivity between FH groups and against the older-adolescent model. RESULTS Patterns of connectivity were more similar between older adolescent and FHN than FHP adolescents; FHP youth demonstrated higher association between right posterior and left frontal brain regions than FHN and older adolescent youth. Comparison of FH groups indicated a significant difference on the pathway from the right superior parietal lobule to the left middle frontal gyrus. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide additional support for the notion of a neuromaturational lag in FHP youth. Protracted neuromaturation may be a mechanism by which FH increases risk for alcohol dependence, and this less mature neural connectivity pattern may provide a novel endophenotype for identifying youth at risk for drinking problems.
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Buss AT, Spencer JP. The emergent executive: a dynamic field theory of the development of executive function. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 2014; 79:vii, 1-103. [PMID: 24818836 DOI: 10.1002/mono.12096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Executive function (EF) is a central aspect of cognition that undergoes significant changes in early childhood. Changes in EF in early childhood are robustly predictive of academic achievement and general quality of life measures later in adulthood. We present a dynamic neural field (DNF) model that provides a process-based account of behavior and developmental change in a key task used to probe the early development of executive function—the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task. In the DCCS, children must flexibly switch from sorting cards either by shape or color to sorting by the other dimension. Typically, 3-year-olds, but not 5-year-olds, lack the flexibility to do so and perseverate on the first set of rules when instructed to switch. Using the DNF model, we demonstrate how rule-use and behavioral flexibility come about through a form of dimensional attention. Further, developmental change is captured by increasing the robustness and precision of dimensional attention. Note that although this enables the model to effectively switch tasks, the dimensional attention system does not “know” the details of task-specific performance. Rather, correct performance emerges as a property of system–wide interactions. We show how this captures children’s behavior in quantitative detail across 14 versions of the DCCS task. Moreover, we successfully test a set of novel predictions with 3-year-old children from a version of the task not explained by other theories.
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REFERENCES. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 2014. [DOI: 10.1002/mono.12104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Karbach J, Unger K. Executive control training from middle childhood to adolescence. Front Psychol 2014; 5:390. [PMID: 24847294 PMCID: PMC4019883 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2014] [Accepted: 04/14/2014] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) include a number of higher-level cognitive control abilities, such as cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory, which are instrumental in supporting action control and the flexible adaptation changing environments. These control functions are supported by the prefrontal cortex and therefore develop rapidly across childhood and mature well into late adolescence. Given that executive control is a strong predictor for various life outcomes, such as academic achievement, socioeconomic status, and physical health, numerous training interventions have been designed to improve executive functioning across the lifespan, many of them targeting children and adolescents. Despite the increasing popularity of these trainings, their results are neither robust nor consistent, and the transferability of training-induced performance improvements to untrained tasks seems to be limited. In this review, we provide a selective overview of the developmental literature on process-based cognitive interventions by discussing (1) the concept and the development of EFs and their neural underpinnings, (2) the effects of different types of executive control training in normally developing children and adolescents, (3) individual differences in training-related performance gains as well as (4) the potential of cognitive training interventions for the application in clinical and educational contexts. Based on recent findings, we consider how transfer of process-based executive control trainings may be supported and how interventions may be tailored to the needs of specific age groups or populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Karbach
- Department of Educational Science, Saarland University Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Kerstin Unger
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University Providence, RI, USA
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Wong ASY, He MYQ, Chan RWS. Effectiveness of computerized working memory training program in Chinese community settings for children with poor working memory. J Atten Disord 2014; 18:318-30. [PMID: 23382580 DOI: 10.1177/1087054712471427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study is to further examine the effectiveness of computerized working memory intervention among Chinese population. METHOD In comparing the performance of experimental group with those of control group, General Linear Model Analysis (repeated measures) was applied to neurological and behavioral measures obtained for working memory, response inhibition, and inattention and hyperactive symptoms. RESULTS For experimental group that received high-intensity training in school setting, there was a significant improvement in working memory reflected in neuropsychological measures as well as parent-rated behavioral measures as compared with the control group. CONCLUSION Our results generally supported the effectiveness of group-based computerized training. It might be served as a cost-effective intervention in semistructured settings, with high-intensity training and minimal therapist involvement.
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Buss AT, Fox N, Boas DA, Spencer JP. Probing the early development of visual working memory capacity with functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Neuroimage 2014; 85 Pt 1:314-25. [PMID: 23707803 PMCID: PMC3859697 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.05.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2013] [Revised: 05/01/2013] [Accepted: 05/04/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual working memory (VWM) is a core cognitive system with a highly limited capacity. The present study is the first to examine VWM capacity limits in early development using functional neuroimaging. We recorded optical neuroimaging data while 3- and 4-year-olds completed a change detection task where they detected changes in the shapes of objects after a brief delay. Near-infrared sources and detectors were placed over the following 10-20 positions: F3 and F5 in left frontal cortex, F4 and F6 in right frontal cortex, P3 and P5 in left parietal cortex, and P4 and P6 in right parietal cortex. The first question was whether we would see robust task-specific activation of the frontal-parietal network identified in the adult fMRI literature. This was indeed the case: three left frontal channels and 11 of 12 parietal channels showed a statistically robust difference between the concentration of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin following the presentation of the sample array. Moreover, four channels in the left hemisphere near P3, P5, and F5 showed a robust increase as the working memory load increased from 1 to 3 items. Notably, the hemodynamic response did not asymptote at 1-2 items as expected from previous fMRI studies with adults. Finally, 4-year-olds showed a more robust parietal response relative to 3-year-olds, and an increasing sensitivity to the memory load manipulation. These results demonstrate that fNIRS is an effective tool to study the neural processes that underlie the early development of VWM capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron T. Buss
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
| | - Nicholas Fox
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
| | - David A. Boas
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
| | - John P. Spencer
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
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Zhou X, Zhu D, Qi XL, Lees CJ, Bennett AJ, Salinas E, Stanford TR, Constantinidis C. Working memory performance and neural activity in prefrontal cortex of peripubertal monkeys. J Neurophysiol 2013; 110:2648-60. [PMID: 24047904 PMCID: PMC3882774 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00370.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2013] [Accepted: 09/11/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex matures late into adolescence or early adulthood. This pattern of maturation mirrors working memory abilities, which continue to improve into adulthood. However, the nature of the changes that prefrontal neuronal activity undergoes during this process is poorly understood. We investigated behavioral performance and neural activity in working memory tasks around the time of puberty, a developmental event associated with the release of sex hormones and significant neurological change. The developmental stages of male rhesus monkeys were evaluated with a series of morphometric, hormonal, and radiographic measures. Peripubertal monkeys were trained to perform an oculomotor delayed response task and a variation of this task involving a distractor stimulus. We found that the peripubertal monkeys tended to abort a relatively large fraction of trials, and these were associated with low levels of task-related neuronal activity. However, for completed trials, accuracy in the delayed saccade task was high and the appearance of a distractor stimulus did not impact performance significantly. In correct trials delay period activity was robust and was not eliminated by the presentation of a distracting stimulus, whereas in trials that resulted in errors the sustained cue-related activity was significantly weaker. Our results show that in peripubertal monkeys the prefrontal cortex is capable of generating robust persistent activity in the delay periods of working memory tasks, although in general it may be more prone to stochastic failure than in adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Zhou
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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32
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Horwitz B, Hwang C, Alstott J. Interpreting the effects of altered brain anatomical connectivity on fMRI functional connectivity: a role for computational neural modeling. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:649. [PMID: 24273500 PMCID: PMC3822330 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2013] [Accepted: 10/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, there have been a large number of studies using resting state fMRI to characterize abnormal brain connectivity in patients with a variety of neurological, psychiatric, and developmental disorders. However, interpreting what the differences in resting state fMRI functional connectivity (rsfMRI-FC) actually reflect in terms of the underlying neural pathology has proved to be elusive because of the complexity of brain anatomical connectivity. The same is the case for task-based fMRI studies. In the last few years, several groups have used large-scale neural modeling to help provide some insight into the relationship between brain anatomical connectivity and the corresponding patterns of fMRI-FC. In this paper we review several efforts at using large-scale neural modeling to investigate the relationship between structural connectivity and functional/effective connectivity to determine how alterations in structural connectivity are manifested in altered patterns of functional/effective connectivity. Because the alterations made in the anatomical connectivity between specific brain regions in the model are known in detail, one can use the results of these simulations to determine the corresponding alterations in rsfMRI-FC. Many of these simulation studies found that structural connectivity changes do not necessarily result in matching changes in functional/effective connectivity in the areas of structural modification. Often, it was observed that increases in functional/effective connectivity in the altered brain did not necessarily correspond to increases in the strength of the anatomical connection weights. Note that increases in rsfMRI-FC in patients have been interpreted in some cases as resulting from neural plasticity. These results suggest that this interpretation can be mistaken. The relevance of these simulation findings to the use of functional/effective fMRI connectivity as biomarkers for brain disorders is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barry Horwitz
- Brain Imaging and Modeling Section, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of HealthBethesda, MD, USA
| | - Chuhern Hwang
- Brain Imaging and Modeling Section, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of HealthBethesda, MD, USA
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of HealthBethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of VirginiaCharlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Jeff Alstott
- Section on Critical Brain Dynamics, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of HealthBethesda, MD, USA
- Brain Mapping Unit, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of CambridgeCambridgeshire, UK
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Sprondel V, Kipp KH, Mecklinger A. Timing matters: Age-related changes in episodic retrieval control as revealed by event-related potentials. Brain Res 2013; 1537:143-55. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2013.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2013] [Revised: 08/19/2013] [Accepted: 09/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Spencer JP, Buss AT. The Emerging Executive: Using Dynamic Neural Fields to Understand the Development of Cognitive Control. MINNESOTA SYMPOSIA ON CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1002/9781118732373.ch4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Barch DM, Cohen R, Csernansky J. Altered cognitive development in the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia. Clin Psychol Sci 2013; 2:138-151. [PMID: 25485180 DOI: 10.1177/2167702613496244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The goal of the current study was to further investigate the late neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia by examining cross-sectional, age-related changes in cognitive function among young adult: 1) siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 66); (2) healthy control participants (N = 77); and (3) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 77). All subjects participated in a battery of tasks in four domains: 1) IQ; 2) working memory; 3) episodic memory; and 4) executive function. We found significant group differences in the relationships between age and performance in working memory and episodic memory, with similar patterns for executive function and verbal IQ. The siblings of individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance in working memory, episodic memory, and executive function. In addition, healthy controls and/or their siblings showed age-related improvements in all four cognitive domains, while the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia only showed this for verbal IQ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deanna M Barch
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Radiology, Washington University
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36
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Wadehra S, Pruitt P, Murphy ER, Diwadkar VA. Network dysfunction during associative learning in schizophrenia: Increased activation, but decreased connectivity: an fMRI study. Schizophr Res 2013; 148:38-49. [PMID: 23759649 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2012] [Revised: 05/07/2013] [Accepted: 05/09/2013] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia (SCZ) is characterized by disordered activation and disordered connectivity, yet few fMRI studies have convergently investigated both. Here, we compared differences in activation and connectivity between SCZ and controls (HC). Twenty-two subjects (18≤age≤35yrs) participated in a paired-associative learning task, a behavioral domain particularly dependent on fronto-hippocampal connectivity and of relevance to the schizophrenia diathesis. Activation differences were assessed using standard approaches. Seed-based connectivity differences were compared using Psychophysiological Interaction (PPI) with a hippocampus-based seed. SCZ evinced significantly increased activation, but significantly decreased connectivity with the hippocampus across a cortical-striatal learning network. These results assess potentially complementary patterns of network dysfunction in schizophrenia: increased activation suggests inefficient responses relating to functional specialization; decreased connectivity suggests impaired integration of functional signals between regions. Inefficiency and dysconnection appear to collectively characterize functional deficits in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunali Wadehra
- Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University SOM, United States
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37
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Catts VS, Fung SJ, Long LE, Joshi D, Vercammen A, Allen KM, Fillman SG, Rothmond DA, Sinclair D, Tiwari Y, Tsai SY, Weickert TW, Shannon Weickert C. Rethinking schizophrenia in the context of normal neurodevelopment. Front Cell Neurosci 2013; 7:60. [PMID: 23720610 PMCID: PMC3654207 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2013.00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2013] [Accepted: 04/16/2013] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The schizophrenia brain is differentiated from the normal brain by subtle changes, with significant overlap in measures between normal and disease states. For the past 25 years, schizophrenia has increasingly been considered a neurodevelopmental disorder. This frame of reference challenges biological researchers to consider how pathological changes identified in adult brain tissue can be accounted for by aberrant developmental processes occurring during fetal, childhood, or adolescent periods. To place schizophrenia neuropathology in a neurodevelopmental context requires solid, scrutinized evidence of changes occurring during normal development of the human brain, particularly in the cortex; however, too often data on normative developmental change are selectively referenced. This paper focuses on the development of the prefrontal cortex and charts major molecular, cellular, and behavioral events on a similar time line. We first consider the time at which human cognitive abilities such as selective attention, working memory, and inhibitory control mature, emphasizing that attainment of full adult potential is a process requiring decades. We review the timing of neurogenesis, neuronal migration, white matter changes (myelination), and synapse development. We consider how molecular changes in neurotransmitter signaling pathways are altered throughout life and how they may be concomitant with cellular and cognitive changes. We end with a consideration of how the response to drugs of abuse changes with age. We conclude that the concepts around the timing of cortical neuronal migration, interneuron maturation, and synaptic regression in humans may need revision and include greater emphasis on the protracted and dynamic changes occurring in adolescence. Updating our current understanding of post-natal neurodevelopment should aid researchers in interpreting gray matter changes and derailed neurodevelopmental processes that could underlie emergence of psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vibeke S. Catts
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Samantha J. Fung
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Leonora E. Long
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Medical Sciences, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Dipesh Joshi
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ans Vercammen
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychology, Australian Catholic UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Katherine M. Allen
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Stu G. Fillman
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Debora A. Rothmond
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Duncan Sinclair
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Yash Tiwari
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Medical Sciences, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Shan-Yuan Tsai
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Thomas W. Weickert
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Cynthia Shannon Weickert
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Schizophrenia Research InstituteSydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research AustraliaSydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South WalesSydney, NSW, Australia
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38
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Chevalier N, Huber KL, Wiebe SA, Espy KA. Qualitative change in executive control during childhood and adulthood. Cognition 2013; 128:1-12. [PMID: 23562979 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2013.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2012] [Revised: 02/17/2013] [Accepted: 02/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Executive control development typically has been conceptualized to result from quantitative changes in the efficiency of the underlying processes. In contrast, the present study addressed the possibility of qualitative change with age by examining how children and adults detect task switches. Participants in three age groups (5- and 10-year-old children, young adults) completed two conditions of a cued task-switching paradigm where task cues were presented either in isolation or in conjunction with transition cues. Five-year-olds performed better with transition cues, whereas the reverse effect was observed at age 10 and with adults. Unlike 5-year-olds who detect switches after semantically processing cues, older participants strategically detect switches based on perceptual processing only. Age-related qualitative changes promote increasingly optimal adjustment of executive resources with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Chevalier
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0345, United States.
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39
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Bennett DS, Mohamed FB, Carmody DP, Malik M, Faro SH, Lewis M. Prenatal tobacco exposure predicts differential brain function during working memory in early adolescence: a preliminary investigation. Brain Imaging Behav 2013; 7:49-59. [PMID: 22820891 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-012-9192-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Children prenatally exposed to tobacco exhibit higher rates of learning and emotional-behavioral problems related to worse working memory performance. Brain function, however, among tobacco exposed children while performing a working memory task has not previously been examined. This study compared the brain function of tobacco-exposed (n = 7) and unexposed (n = 11) 12-year-olds during a number N-back working memory task using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design. Prenatal alcohol exposure, neonatal medical problems, environmental risk, and sex were statistically controlled. Tobacco-exposed children showed greater activation in inferior parietal regions, whereas unexposed children showed greater activation in inferior frontal regions. These differences were observed in the context of correct responses, suggesting that exposed and unexposed children use different brain regions and approaches to succeed in working memory tasks. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S Bennett
- GLAD Program, Drexel University College of Medicine, Building C, Box 118, 4700 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144, USA.
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Perone S, Spencer JP. Autonomy in action: linking the act of looking to memory formation in infancy via dynamic neural fields. Cogn Sci 2013; 37:1-60. [PMID: 23136815 PMCID: PMC3815444 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Looking is a fundamental exploratory behavior by which infants acquire knowledge about the world. In theories of infant habituation, however, looking as an exploratory behavior has been deemphasized relative to the reliable nature with which looking indexes active cognitive processing. We present a new theory that connects looking to the dynamics of memory formation and formally implement this theory in a Dynamic Neural Field model that learns autonomously as it actively looks and looks away from a stimulus. We situate this model in a habituation task and illustrate the mechanisms by which looking, encoding, working memory formation, and long-term memory formation give rise to habituation across multiple stimulus and task contexts. We also illustrate how the act of looking and the temporal dynamics of learning affect each other. Finally, we test a new hypothesis about the sources of developmental differences in looking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sammy Perone
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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41
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Simmering VR, Patterson AR. Models provide specificity: Testing a proposed mechanism of visual working memory capacity development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2012; 27:419-439. [PMID: 23204645 PMCID: PMC3509784 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.08.001,] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/01/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have established that visual working memory has a limited capacity, and that capacity increases during childhood. However, debate continues over the source of capacity limits and its developmental increase. Simmering (2008) adapted a computational model of spatial cognitive development, the Dynamic Field Theory, to explain not only the source of capacity limitations but also the developmental mechanism. According to the model, capacity is limited by the balance between excitation and inhibition that maintains multiple neural representations simultaneously. Moreover, development is implemented according to the Spatial Precision Hypothesis, which proposes that excitatory and inhibitory connections strengthen throughout early childhood. Critically, these changes in connectivity result in increasing precision and stability of neural representations over development. Here we test this developmental mechanism by probing children's memory in a single-item change detection task. Results confirmed the model's predictions, providing further support for this account of visual working memory capacity development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa R. Simmering
- Psychology Department and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin – Madison
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42
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Spencer JP, Austin A, Schutte AR. Contributions of Dynamic Systems Theory to Cognitive Development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2012; 27:401-418. [PMID: 26052181 PMCID: PMC4454421 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines the contributions of dynamic systems theory to the field of cognitive development, focusing on modeling using dynamic neural fields. A brief overview highlights the contributions of dynamic systems theory and the central concepts of dynamic field theory (DFT). We then probe empirical predictions and findings generated by DFT around two examples-the DFT of infant perseverative reaching that explains the Piagetian A-not-B error, and the DFT of spatial memory that explain changes in spatial cognition in early development. A systematic review of the literature around these examples reveals that computational modeling is having an impact on empirical research in cognitive development; however, this impact does not extend to neural and clinical research. Moreover, there is a tendency for researchers to interpret models narrowly, anchoring them to specific tasks. We conclude on an optimistic note, encouraging both theoreticians and experimentalists to work toward a more theory-driven future.
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Affiliation(s)
- John P. Spencer
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
| | - Andrew Austin
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
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43
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Models provide specificity: Testing a proposed mechanism of visual working memory capacity development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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44
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Sander MC, Lindenberger U, Werkle-Bergner M. Lifespan age differences in working memory: a two-component framework. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 36:2007-33. [PMID: 22771333 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2011] [Revised: 05/29/2012] [Accepted: 06/12/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
We suggest that working memory (WM) performance can be conceptualized as the interplay of low-level feature binding processes and top-down control, relating to posterior and frontal brain regions and their interaction in a distributed neural network. We propose that due to age-differential trajectories of posterior and frontal brain regions top-down control processes are not fully mature until young adulthood and show marked decline with advancing age, whereas binding processes are relatively mature in children, but show senescent decline in older adults. A review of the literature spanning from middle childhood to old age shows that binding and top-down control processes undergo profound changes across the lifespan. We illustrate commonalities and dissimilarities between children, younger adults, and older adults reflecting the change in the two components' relative contribution to visual WM performance across the lifespan using results from our own lab. We conclude that an integrated account of visual WM lifespan changes combining research from behavioral neuroscience and cognitive psychology of child development as well as aging research opens avenues to advance our understanding of cognition in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myriam C Sander
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Lifespan Psychology, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
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45
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Jolles DD, Crone EA. Training the developing brain: a neurocognitive perspective. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 6:76. [PMID: 22509161 PMCID: PMC3321411 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2011] [Accepted: 03/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental training studies are important to increase our understanding of the potential of the developing brain by providing answers to questions such as: “Which functions can and which functions cannot be improved as a result of practice?,” “Is there a specific period during which training has more impact?,” and “Is it always advantageous to train a particular function?”In addition, neuroimaging methods provide valuable information about the underlying mechanisms that drive cognitive plasticity. In this review, we describe how neuroscientific studies of training effects inform us about the possibilities of the developing brain, pointing out that childhood is a special period during which training may have different effects. We conclude that there is much complexity in interpreting training effects in children. Depending on the type of training and the level of maturation of the individual, training may influence developmental trajectories in different ways. We propose that the immature brain structure might set limits on how much can be achieved with training, but that the immaturity can also have advantages, in terms of flexibility for learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dietsje D Jolles
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands
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A computational model of fMRI activity in the intraparietal sulcus that supports visual working memory. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2012; 11:573-99. [PMID: 21866425 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-011-0054-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
A computational model was developed to explain a pattern of results of fMRI activation in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) supporting visual working memory for multiobject scenes. The model is based on the hypothesis that dendrites of excitatory neurons are major computational elements in the cortical circuit. Dendrites enable formation of a competitive queue that exhibits a gradient of activity values for nodes encoding different objects, and this pattern is stored in working memory. In the model, brain imaging data are interpreted as a consequence of blood flow arising from dendritic processing. Computer simulations showed that the model successfully simulates data showing the involvement of inferior IPS in object individuation and spatial grouping through representation of objects' locations in space, along with the involvement of superior IPS in object identification through representation of a set of objects' features. The model exhibits a capacity limit due to the limited dynamic range for nodes and the operation of lateral inhibition among them. The capacity limit is fixed in the inferior IPS regardless of the objects' complexity, due to the normalization of lateral inhibition, and variable in the superior IPS, due to the different encoding demands for simple and complex shapes. Systematic variation in the strength of self-excitation enables an understanding of the individual differences in working memory capacity. The model offers several testable predictions regarding the neural basis of visual working memory.
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Diwadkar VA, Meintjes EM, Goradia D, Dodge NC, Warton C, Molteno CD, Jacobson SW, Jacobson JL. Differences in cortico-striatal-cerebellar activation during working memory in syndromal and nonsyndromal children with prenatal alcohol exposure. Hum Brain Mapp 2012; 34:1931-45. [PMID: 22451272 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2011] [Revised: 12/19/2011] [Accepted: 12/20/2011] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Although children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure may exhibit the distinctive facial dysmorphology seen in full or partial fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS/PFAS), many lack that dysmorphology. This study examined the functional organization of working memory in the brain in three groups of children-those meeting diagnostic criteria for FAS or PFAS, heavily exposed (HE) nonsyndromal children, and healthy controls. A verbal n-back task (1-back and 0-back) was administered to 47 children (17 with FAS/PFAS, 13 HE, and 17 controls) during fMRI. Intra-group one-sample t-tests were used to identify activity regions of interest central to verbal working memory including the dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC), inferior frontal gyrus, caudate/putamen, parietal cortex, and cerebellar Crus I/lobule VI and lobule VIIB-IX. Whereas groups did not differ in task sensitivity, fMRI analyses suggested different patterns of sub-network recruitment across groups. Controls primarily recruited left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area). By contrast, HE primarily recruited an extensive set of fronto-striatal regions, including left dPFC and left caudate, and the FAS/PFAS group relied primarily on two cerebellar subregions and parietal cortex. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate differential recruitment of critical brain regions that subserve basic function in children with different fetal alcohol spectrum disorders compared to controls. The distinct activation patterns seen in the two exposed groups may be related to substantial differences in alcohol dose/occasion to which these groups were exposed in utero.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaibhav A Diwadkar
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48207, USA.
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Munakata Y, Snyder HR, Chatham CH. Developing Cognitive Control: Three Key Transitions. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2012; 21:71-77. [PMID: 22711982 DOI: 10.1177/0963721412436807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 189] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The ability to flexibly break out of routine behaviors develops gradually and is essential for success in life. We discuss three key developmental transitions toward more flexible behavior. First, children develop an increasing ability to overcome habits by engaging cognitive control in response to environmental signals. Second, children shift from recruiting cognitive control reactively, as needed in the moment, to recruiting cognitive control proactively, in preparation for needing it. Third, children shift from relying on environmental signals for engaging cognitive control to becoming more self-directed. All three transitions can be understood in terms of the development of increasingly active and abstract goal representations in prefrontal cortex.
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Abstract
Relational reasoning, or the ability to identify and consider relationships between multiple mental representations, is a fundamental component of high-level cognition (Robin and Holyoak, 1995). The capacity to reason with relations enables abstract thought and may be at the core of what makes human cognition unique (Penn et al., 2008). This capacity improves throughout childhood and adolescence (Ferrer et al., 2009). Here, we sought to better understand the neural mechanisms that support its emergence. We have hypothesized previously, based on fMRI research in adults, that (1) inferior parietal lobe (IPL) plays a central role in representing relationships between mental representations (first-order relations) and (2) rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) integrates inputs from IPL to build second-order relational structures (i.e., relations between relations). In the present study, we examined fMRI and cortical thickness data from 85 children and adolescents (ages 6-18 years). Participants performed a relational matching task in which they viewed arrays of four visual stimuli and determined whether two stimuli shared a particular feature (a first-order relational judgment) or whether two pairs of stimuli matched according to the same feature (a second-order relational judgment). fMRI results provide evidence for increased functional selectivity across ages 6-18 years in RLPFC and IPL. Specifically, young children engaged RLPFC and IPL indiscriminately for first-order and second-order relational judgments, and activation for first-order relations diminished with age whereas activation for second-order relations stayed elevated. Examination of cortical thickness revealed that increased functional selectivity in RLPFC could be partly accounted for by cortical thinning in IPL.
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Diwadkar VA, Pruitt P, Zhang A, Radwan J, Keshavan MS, Murphy E, Rajan U, Zajac-Benitez C. The neural correlates of performance in adolescents at risk for schizophrenia: inefficiently increased cortico-striatal responses measured with fMRI. J Psychiatr Res 2012; 46:12-21. [PMID: 22033368 PMCID: PMC5731832 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2011] [Revised: 09/09/2011] [Accepted: 09/29/2011] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND fMRI studies indicate that schizophrenia patients and their adult relatives require greater prefrontal activation to maintain performance at levels equal to controls, but studies have not established if this pattern of inefficiency is observed in child and adolescent offspring of schizophrenia patients (SCZ-Off). METHODS Using a task with visual working memory demands, we investigated activation in cortico-striatal networks and dorsal prefrontal modulation of regions underlying visual working memory in a group of SCZ-Off (n = 19) and controls with no family history of psychosis (n = 25 subjects) using an event-related design. Trials were divided based on memory performance (correct vs. incorrect) to specifically identify the neural correlates of correct working memory performance. RESULTS Whereas groups did not differ in terms of behavioral accuracy, SCZ-Off demonstrated significantly increased fMRI-measured activation in dorsal prefrontal cortex and the caudate nucleus during correct, relative to incorrect memory performance. Whereas activation in SCZ-Off was high and independent of performance in each region, in controls the fMRI response was related to behavioral proficiency in the caudate. Further, exploratory analyses indicated that this inefficiency in the dorsal prefrontal cortex response increased with age in SCZ-Off (but in no other regions or group). Finally, these differences were not based in differences in dorsal prefrontal modulation of other regions during successful performance. DISCUSSION These results are consistent with observed patterns in adult patients and first-degree relatives. Inefficient fronto-striatal responses during working memory may characterize the schizophrenia diathesis and may reflect the effects of the illness and vulnerability for the illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaibhav A Diwadkar
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University SOM, MI 48201, USA.
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