RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Activity level in left auditory cortex predicts behavioral performance in inhibition tasks in children
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.04.30.069906
DO 10.1101/2020.04.30.069906
A1 Sam van Bijnen
A1 Lauri Parkkonen
A1 Tiina Parviainen
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/02/2020.04.30.069906.abstract
AB Sensory processing during development is important for the emerging cognitive skills underlying goal-directed behavior. Yet, it is not known how auditory processing in children is related to their cognitive functions. Here, we utilized combined magneto- and electroencephalographic (M/EEG) measurements to show that child-unique auditory cortical activity at ∼250 ms after auditory stimulation predicts the performance in inhibition tasks. While unaffected by task demands, the amplitude of the left-hemisphere response was significantly correlated with the variability of behavioral response time. Since this response is not present in adults, our results suggest divergent brain mechanisms in adults and children for consistent performance in auditory-based cognitive tasks. This difference can be explained as a shift in cognitive control functionality from sensorimotor associations in the auditory cortex of children to top–down regulated control processes involving (pre)frontal and cingulate areas in adults.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.