Maturation of Widely Distributed Brain Function Subserves Cognitive Development

Cognitive and brain maturational changes continue throughout late childhood and adolescence. During this time, increasing cognitive control over behavior enhances the voluntary suppression of reflexive/impulsive response tendencies. Recently, with the advent of functional MRI, it has become possible...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2001-05, Vol.13 (5), p.786-793
Main Authors: Luna, Beatriz, Thulborn, Keith R., Munoz, Douglas P., Merriam, Elisha P., Garver, Krista E., Minshew, Nancy J., Keshavan, Matcheri S., Genovese, Christopher R., Eddy, William F., Sweeney, John A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adult
Adults
Attention - physiology
Brain - growth & development
Brain Mapping
Cerebellum
Child
Child development
Children
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Cognitive development
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
eye movements
Eye Movements - physiology
Female
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Humans
Image Enhancement
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
inhibition
Internal-External Control
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Maturation
Neostriatum
Neural Inhibition - physiology
neuroimaging
Prefrontal cortex
Reflex - physiology
Thalamus
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Summary:Cognitive and brain maturational changes continue throughout late childhood and adolescence. During this time, increasing cognitive control over behavior enhances the voluntary suppression of reflexive/impulsive response tendencies. Recently, with the advent of functional MRI, it has become possible to characterize changes in brain activity during cognitive development. In order to investigate the cognitive and brain maturation subserving the ability to voluntarily suppress context-inappropriate behavior, we tested 8–30 year olds in an oculomotor response–suppression task. Behavioral results indicated that adult-like ability to inhibit prepotent responses matured gradually through childhood and adolescence. Functional MRI results indicated that brain activation in frontal, parietal, striatal, and thalamic regions increased progressively from childhood to adulthood. Prefrontal cortex was more active in adolescents than in children or adults; adults demonstrated greater activation in the lateral cerebellum than younger subjects. These results suggest that efficient top-down modulation of reflexive acts may not be fully developed until adulthood and provide evidence that maturation of function across widely distributed brain regions lays the groundwork for enhanced voluntary control of behavior during cognitive development.
ISSN:1053-8119
1095-9572
DOI:10.1006/nimg.2000.0743