Changes in BOLD variability are linked to the development of variable response inhibition.

Research on the development of response inhibition in humans has focused almost exclusively on average stopping performance. The development of intra-individual variability in stopping performance and its underlying neural circuitry has remained largely unstudied, even though understanding variability is of core importance for understanding development. In a total sample of 45 participants (19 children aged 10-12 years and 26 adults aged 18-26 years) of either sex we aimed to identify age-related changes in intra-individual response inhibition performance and its underlying brain signal variability.

Connectivity of the Human Number Form Area Reveals Development of a Cortical Network for Mathematics.

The adult brain contains cortical areas thought to be specialized for the analysis of numbers (the putative number form area, NFA) and letters (the visual word form area, VWFA). Although functional development of the VWFA has been investigated, it is largely unknown when and how the NFA becomes specialized and connected to the rest of the brain. One hypothesis is that NFA and VWFA derive their special functions through differential connectivity, but the development of this differential connectivity has not been shown.

Specialization of the Right Intraparietal Sulcus for Processing Mathematics During Development.

Mathematical ability, especially perception of numbers and performance of arithmetics, is known to rely on the activation of intraparietal sulcus (IPS). However, reasoning ability and working memory, 2 highly associated abilities also activate partly overlapping regions. Most studies aimed at localizing mathematical function have used group averages, where individual variability is averaged out, thus confounding the anatomical specificity when localizing cognitive functions.

Choosing not to act: neural bases of the development of intentional inhibition.

Choosing not to act, or the ability to intentionally inhibit your actions lies at the core of self-control. Even though most research has focused on externally primed inhibition, an important question concerns how intentional inhibition develops. Therefore, in the present study children (aged 10-12) and adults (aged 18-26) performed the marble task, in which they had to choose between acting on and inhibiting a prepotent response, while fMRI data were collected.

New perspectives on self-control development: highlighting the role of intentional inhibition.

The ability to exert self-control over one׳s thoughts and actions is crucial for successful functioning in daily life. To date, self-control development has been primarily studied from the perspective of externally driven inhibition. In this review, we introduce a new perspective on the development of self-control by highlighting the importance of intentional inhibition.

Neural correlates of intentional and stimulus-driven inhibition: a comparison.

People can inhibit an action because of an instruction by an external stimulus, or because of their own internal decision. The similarities and differences between these two forms of inhibition are not well understood. Therefore, in the present study the neural correlates of intentional and stimulus-driven inhibition were tested in the same subjects.

Development of response inhibition in the context of relevant versus irrelevant emotions.

The present study examined the influence of relevant and irrelevant emotions on response inhibition from childhood to early adulthood. Ninety-four participants between 6 and 25 years of age performed two go/nogo tasks with emotional faces (neutral, happy, and fearful) as stimuli. In one go/nogo task emotion formed a relevant dimension of the task and in the other go/nogo task emotion was irrelevant and participants had to respond to the color of the faces instead.

Developmental change in intentional action and inhibition: a heart rate analysis.

The ability to inhibit is a major developmental dimension. Previous studies examined developmental change in instructed inhibition. The current study, however, focused on intentional inhibition.

Prefrontal cortex involvement in creative problem solving in middle adolescence and adulthood.

Creative cognition, defined as the generation of new yet appropriate ideas and solutions, serves important adaptive purposes. Here, we tested whether and how middle adolescence, characterized by transformations toward life independency and individuality, is a more profitable phase than adulthood for creative cognition. Behavioral and neural differences for creative problem solving in adolescents (15-17 years) and adults (25-30 years) were measured while performing a matchstick problem task (MPT) in the scanner and the creative ability test (CAT), a visuo-spatial divergent thinking task, outside the scanner.

A three-year longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study of performance monitoring and test-retest reliability from childhood to early adulthood.

Previous cross-sectional functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that performance monitoring functions continue to develop well into adolescence, associated with increased activation in brain regions important for cognitive control (prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and parietal cortex). To date, however, the development of performance monitoring has not yet been studied longitudinally, which leaves open the question whether changes can be detected within individuals over time. In the present study, human boys and girls, between ages 8 and 27 years, performed a child-friendly rule-switch task in the scanner on two occasions ∼3.