Reward-Sensitive Basal Ganglia Stabilize the Maintenance of Goal-Relevant Neural Patterns in Adolescents

• Published in: Journal of cognitive neuroscience 2020-08, Vol.32 (8), p.1508-1524
• Main Authors: Hubbard, Nicholas A, Romeo, Rachel R, Grotzinger, Hannah, Giebler, Melissa, Imhof, Andrea, Bauer, Clemens C. C, Gabrieli, John D. E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Basal ganglia; Communication; Computational neuroscience; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Maturation; Neural networks; Reinforcement; Short term memory; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0898-929X; 1530-8898
• DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01572

Maturation of basal ganglia (BG) and frontoparietal circuitry parallels developmental gains in working memory (WM). Neurobiological models posit that adult WM performance is enhanced by communication between reward-sensitive BG and frontoparietal regions, via increased stability in the maintenance of goal-relevant neural patterns. It is not known whether this reward-driven pattern stability mechanism may have a role in WM development. In 34 young adolescents (12.16–14.72 years old) undergoing fMRI, reward-sensitive BG regions were localized using an incentive processing task. WM-sensitive regions were localized using a delayed-response WM task. Functional connectivity analyses were used to examine the stability of goal-relevant functional connectivity patterns during WM delay periods between and within reward-sensitive BG and WM-sensitive frontoparietal regions. Analyses revealed that more stable goal-relevant connectivity patterns between reward-sensitive BG and WM-sensitive frontoparietal regions were associated with both greater adolescent age and WM ability. Computational lesion models also revealed that functional connections to WM-sensitive frontoparietal regions from reward-sensitive BG uniquely increased the stability of goal-relevant functional connectivity patterns within frontoparietal regions. Findings suggested (1) the extent to which goal-relevant communication patterns within reward-frontoparietal circuitry are maintained increases with adolescent development and WM ability and (2) communication from reward-sensitive BG to frontoparietal regions enhances the maintenance of goal-relevant neural patterns in adolescents' WM. The maturation of reward-driven stability of goal-relevant neural patterns may provide a putative mechanism for understanding the developmental enhancement of WM.