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Poster #22 - Time-Frequency Approach to Studying Cognitive Control in Children: the Role of Theta and Delta Oscillations

Sat, March 23, 2:30 to 3:45pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Cognitive control is essential for both children and adults to adapt their behavior advantageously. Traditionally, event-related potentials (ERPs) have been used to index neural responses associated with cognitive control. However, previous work in adults has shown that studying neural oscillations, namely oscillations in the theta (4-8 Hz) and delta (1-3Hz) range, provide more direct evidence for neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control. In addition, examining the neural oscillations with time-frequency approaches may be particularly useful to study the development of cognitive control. For instance, ERPs require low trial-to-trial temporal variability and this variability changes during development (DuPuis et al., 2014). In contrast, time-frequency approaches are able to capture phase-locked as well as non-phase-locked oscillations, providing a more comprehensive characterization of the neural mechanisms. Nonetheless, little work has examined time-frequency theta and delta power in children.
In the current study, we employed a go/nogo task variant designed for children called the Zoo Game. Children (n=154, mean age = 7.65 years) played the Zoo Game while high-density EEG was collected. Stimulus-locked theta and delta total-power were extracted from an early time period (250-430ms), which approximately corresponds to the time course of the N2 ERP component, previously linked to cognitive control in children. Early theta power was greater for nogo-correct trials compared to go-correct trials, suggesting enhanced cognitive control required on nogo trials. Moreover, early theta power was greater for nogo-correct trials compared to nogo-error trials, suggesting such theta power is critical to successful responding. Early delta power exhibited the same pattern of results for both a fronto-central electrode cluster and a centro-parietal cluster.
Overall, these time frequency measures appear to index cognitive control in children, similar to prior work leveraging an ERP approach. However, by providing some of the first evidence that the cognitive control system relies on theta oscillations in childhood, we provide a bridge to prior work using a similar approach in adults, or even other species. Future work could leverage this same approach to study how the cognitive control system develops throughout the childhood period, or how disruptions may relate to particular forms of psychopathology.

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