Abstract
Performing tasks activates relevant brain regions in adults while deactivating task‐irrelevant regions. Here, using a well‐controlled motor task, we explored how deactivation is shaped during typical human development and whether deactivation is related to task performance. Healthy right‐handed children (8–11 years), adolescents (12–15 years), and young adults (20–24 years; 20 per group) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging with their eyes closed while performing a repetitive button‐press task with their right index finger in synchronization with a 1‐Hz sound. Deactivation in the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex (SM1), bilateral visual and auditory (cross‐modal) areas, and bilateral default mode network (DMN) progressed with development. Specifically, ipsilateral SM1 and lateral occipital deactivation progressed prominently between childhood and adolescence, while medial occipital (including primary visual) and DMN deactivation progressed from adolescence to adulthood. In adults, greater cross‐modal deactivation in the bilateral primary visual cortices was associated with higher button‐press timing accuracy relative to the sound. The region‐specific deactivation progression in a developmental period may underlie the gradual promotion of sensorimotor function segregation required in the task. Task‐induced deactivation might have physiological significance regarding suppressed activity in task‐irrelevant regions. Furthermore, cross‐modal deactivation develops to benefit some aspects of task performance in adults.
Highlights
Many neuroimaging studies have shown that performing a task activates relevant brain regions, while it may deactivate task-irrelevant regions in the adult brain
When we further explored possible developmental changes in brain deactivation, we found that deactivation in a particular brain region progressed in a specific developmental period (Fig. 3 and Table 2)
Using a well-controlled motor task, we explored how brain deactivation is shaped during typical human development and examined whether deactivation may benefit task performance
Summary
Many neuroimaging studies have shown that performing a task activates relevant brain regions, while it may deactivate task-irrelevant regions in the adult brain. Deactivation during motor tasks has been reported in the adult ipsilateral primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1; Allison et al, 2000; Newton et al, 2005; Marchand et al, 2007; Hayashi et al, 2008), visual and auditory cross-modal areas (Jäncke et al, 2000), and the default mode network (DMN; Marchand et al, 2007) These lines of evidence seem to suggest that task-induced deactivation may occur in brain regions irrelevant to performing a task in a manner that suggests physiological significance and benefits task performance. If deactivation is somehow associated with neuronal suppression in the brain regions irrelevant to performing a task, deactivation patterns may change with development alongside the progression of functional segregation among distributed brain networks These developmental dynamics have never been systematically described. It is not fully understood whether deactivation benefits task performing
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