Dimensional label learning impacts the development of cognitive control

• In Event: A Neuroscientific Perspective on Key Transitions in the Development of Cognitive Control

Abstract

One priority for research on the development of cognitive control is to identify how aspects of learning and experiences contribute to neurocognitive development. Previous research has been limited in the ability to explain developmental changes in cognitive control by relying on maturational mechanisms. Tis project builds upon theoretical work suggesting that learning labels for visual dimensions can create neurocognitive mechanisms for controlling attention (Buss & Kerr-German, 2019; Buss & Spencer, 2014, 2018). To examine the role of dimensional label learning on the development of cognitive control we administered dimensional label learning tasks in addition to a battery of cognitive control tasks longitudinally at 2.5 and 4.5 years of age while functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were collected. At 2.5, children performed comprehension and production tasks for shape and color labels, a snack delay task, and the Simon task. At 4.5 years of age, children again completed DL and Simon tasks in addition to the dimensional change card sort (DCCS) and triad classification (TC) tasks while fNIRS data were collected. fNIRS data were digitized and projected into a 3-dimensional volume and registered to age-appropriate brain templates (Forbes et al., 2021; Lowery et al., 2022). First, we identified changes in neural activation within left frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices associated with improved performance on the comprehension and production task between the ages of 2.5 and 4.5 years. Second, the amount of change in activation within these regions was associated with measures of cognitive control at 4.5 years. Stronger engagement of left frontal cortex during the production task was associated with better performance on tasks requiring attention to visual dimensions (DCCS and TC). Thus, changes in dimensional label learning selectively impacted cognitive control tasks that required attention to visual dimensions. Third, we analyzed changes in neural activation associated performance on the Simon task between the age of 2.5 and 4.5 years. Improved performance was associated with increased activation along the right frontal and right parietal cortices. Moreover, increases in activation were associated with inhibitory control (snack delay performance) at 2.5 years. Together, these results highlight distinct dimensions of cognitive control. Dimensional label learning plays an important role in the development of cognitive control as measured on tasks that require attention to visual dimensions. Label learning provides an opportunity to form multi-modal associations between labels and visual features which can provide a neurocognitive mechanism to prioritize attention to visual dimensions. Ongoing work is examining potential longitudinal impacts on inhibitory control and how these developmental trajectories are related to school-readiness at 5.5 years of age.

Authors

• Aaron T. Buss, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
  Presenting Author

• Alexis McCraw

• Hollis Heim

• Jacqueline Sullivan, Nationwide Children’s Hospital

• Rachel Eddings