3-013 - Advances in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Executive Function

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

There is sustained interest in the developmental changes in brain activity supporting executive function (EF), the ability to plan, regulate and adjust actions. This symposium highlights three research programs on the developmental cognitive neuroscience of EF, with an emphasis on individual differences and contextual influences. The presentations cover a range from infancy to adolescence, thus providing a snapshot of current work across key developmental periods.
The first presentation examines electroencephalographic (EEG) power at 5 months of age in relation to emerging EF abilities at 2 years. The focus is on potential interactions between frontal brain activity, attention, and infant temperament in predicting EF in toddlerhood. The second presentation involves a study of school-age children (6-8 years) and involves a novel protocol in which anticipatory EEG responses were recorded during children’s anticipation of a tactile stimulus delivered to one of their hands. Analyses related variation in anticipatory EEG responses to measures of EF, with this effect moderated by family income. The third presentation examines contextual factors that may explain the association between socioeconomic status and hemodynamic responses in EF-related brain regions during an inhibitory control task in adolescence.
These studies provide the backdrop for a discussion of how heterogeneity in EF-related neural activity can inform understanding of which component processes indexed by EF tasks are central to its predictive power across development and domains. By addressing contextual, affective, and cognitive factors that contribute to these developmental processes, these studies suggest neural markers that may be useful for guiding EF intervention efforts.

Sub Unit

• Biological Processes: Neuroscience and Genetics

Chair

• Peter Marshall, Temple University

Discussant

• Sandra Wiebe, University of Alberta

Individual Presentations

• Infant EEG Contributes to Toddler Executive Function through Infant Attention but Not Infant Temperament - Presenting Author: Tatiana Garcia-Meza, Virginia Tech; Non-Presenting Author: Martha Ann Bell, Virginia Tech

• Children’s EEG Modulation during Anticipation of Touch: Mu Desynchronization relates to Executive Function and Income - Presenting Author: Staci Meredith Weiss, Temple University; Non-Presenting Author: Andrew Meltzoff, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Author: Peter Marshall, Temple University

• Processes linking socioeconomic disadvantage and neural underpinnings of executive function in adolescence - Presenting Author: Alexis Brieant, Virginia Tech; Non-Presenting Author: Brooks King-Casas, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech; Non-Presenting Author: Jungmeen Kim-Spoon, Virginia Tech