Development Of Response Inhibition Research Articles

The Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition across the Transition from Infancy to Toddlerhood: An fNIRS study

Abstract The transition from late infancy into toddlerhood represents a fundamental period in early development. During this time, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is undergoing structural and functional maturation processes that parallel the emergence and improvement of executive function skills, such as inhibitory control. Despite the importance of this developmental period, relatively little is known about the emergence and development of response inhibition, a form of inhibitory control, and the associated neural substrates across this key transition. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an optical imaging technique suitable for imaging the developing brain, and an age-appropriate response inhibition task, we investigated the brain regions associated with response inhibition in 16-month-old toddlers. This pre-registered study extends our previous work with 10-month-old infants (Fiske et al., 2022) as it follows the same cohort of participants, now at 16-months of age. Whilst our previous work demonstrated that 10-month-old infants recruited right-lateralised regions of the PFC and parietal cortex when inhibition was required, the current study suggests that by 16-months, toddlers recruit the left superior parietal gyrus, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and bilateral regions of the dorsolateral PFC and orbital frontal cortex. Although there was no longitudinal change in response inhibition performance, more widespread, bilateral regions of the PFC were recruited during response inhibition at 16-months compared to 10 months. We acknowledge the need for replication of these results. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that the transition from infancy to toddlerhood may constitute an important period of reorganisation of the PFC that might support the development of early inhibitory control processes.

Electrocorticography to Investigate Age-Related Brain Lateralization on Pediatric Motor Inhibition.

Response inhibition refers to the ability to suppress inappropriate actions that interfere with goal-driven behavior. The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is known to be associated with inhibition of a motor response by assuming executive control over motor cortex outputs. This study aimed to evaluate the pediatric development of response inhibition through subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) recording. Subdural ECoG recorded neural activities simultaneously during a Go/No-Go task, which was optimized for children. Different frequency power [theta: 4–8 Hz; beta: 12–40 Hz; high-gamma (HG): 70–200 Hz] was estimated within the IFG and motor cortex. Age-related analysis was computed by each bandpass power ratio between Go and No-Go conditions, and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) over IFG by using the modulating index metric in two conditions. For all the eight pediatric patients, HG power was more activated in No-Go trials than in Go trials, in either right- or left-side IFG when available. In the IFG region, the power over theta and HG in No-Go conditions was higher than those in Go conditions, with significance over the right side (p < 0.05). The age-related lateralization from both sides to the right side was observed from the ratio of HG power and PAC value between the No-Go and Go trials. In the pediatric population, the role of motor inhibition was observed in both IFG, with age-related lateralization to the right side, which was proved in the previous functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. In this study, the evidence correlation of age and response inhibition was observed directly by the evidence of cortical recordings.

Changes in BOLD variability are linked to the development of variable response inhibition

Research on the development of response inhibition in humans has focused almost exclusively on average stopping performance. The development of intra-individual variability in stopping performance and its underlying neural circuitry has remained largely unstudied, even though understanding variability is of core importance for understanding development. In a total sample of 45 participants (19 children aged 10–12 years and 26 adults aged 18–26 years) of either sex we aimed to identify age-related changes in intra-individual response inhibition performance and its underlying brain signal variability. While there was no difference in average stopping performance between children and adults, stop signal latencies for the children were more variable. Further, brain signal variability during successful stopping was significantly higher in adults compared to children, especially in bilateral thalamus, but also across regions of the inhibition network. Finally, brain signal variability was significantly associated with stopping performance behavioral variability in adults. Together these results indicate that variability in stopping performance decreases, whereas neural variability in the inhibition network increases, from childhood to adulthood. Future work will need to assess whether developmental changes in neural variability drive those in behavioral variability. In sum, both, neural and behavioral variability indices might be a more sensitive measure of developmental differences in response inhibition compared to the standard average-based measurements.

Fine Motor Control Underlies the Association Between Response Inhibition and Drawing Skill in Early Development

Previous research shows that the development of response inhibition and drawing skill are linked. The current research investigated whether this association reflects a more fundamental link between response inhibition and motor control. In Experiment 1, 3- and 4-year-olds (n=100) were tested on measures of inhibition, fine motor control, and drawing skill. Data revealed an association between inhibition and fine motor control, which was responsible for most of the association observed with drawing skill. Experiment 2 (n=100) provided evidence that, unlike fine motor control, gross motor control and inhibition were not associated (after controlling for IQ). Alternative explanations for the link between inhibition and fine motor control are outlined, including a consideration of how these cognitive processes may interact during development.

The relationship between the development of response inhibition and intelligence in preschool children.

Building on the theoretical framework that intellectual behavior relies on one's ability to process both task-relevant and task-irrelevant information, this study aimed to empirically investigate the association of response inhibition with intelligence in preschool children's development. In a sample of 152 typically developing children aged between 3.6 and 6.6 years, we found evidence that suggests that inhibitory control is linked to age-related differences in intelligence. Stop-signal inhibition improved at a rate similar to the age-related changes in Verbal IQ. Components of variance analyses revealed that stop-signal reaction time predicted a larger proportion of the age-related variance in children's verbal intelligence than non-age-related variance. Results are discussed with respect to possible explanations for this intriguing relationship between response inhibition and the verbal aspects of intelligence.

Development of response inhibition in the context of relevant versus irrelevant emotions

The present study examined the influence of relevant and irrelevant emotions on response inhibition from childhood to early adulthood. Ninety-four participants between 6 and 25 years of age performed two go/nogo tasks with emotional faces (neutral, happy, and fearful) as stimuli. In one go/nogo task emotion formed a relevant dimension of the task and in the other go/nogo task emotion was irrelevant and participants had to respond to the color of the faces instead. A special feature of the latter task, in which emotion was irrelevant, was the inclusion of free choice trials, in which participants could freely decide between acting and inhibiting. Results showed a linear increase in response inhibition performance with increasing age both in relevant and irrelevant affective contexts. Relevant emotions had a pronounced influence on performance across age, whereas irrelevant emotions did not. Overall, participants made more false alarms on trials with fearful faces than happy faces, and happy faces were associated with better performance on go trials (higher percentage correct and faster RTs) than fearful faces. The latter effect was stronger for young children in terms of accuracy. Finally, during the free choice trials participants did not base their decisions on affective context, confirming that irrelevant emotions do not have a strong impact on inhibition. Together, these findings suggest that across development relevant affective context has a larger influence on response inhibition than irrelevant affective context. When emotions are relevant, a context of positive emotions is associated with better performance compared to a context with negative emotions, especially in young children.

Development of response inhibition in early adolescence: A longitudinal study of time–frequency theta and delta components

Development of response inhibition in early adolescence: A longitudinal study of time–frequency theta and delta components

Separating the Fish From the Sharks: A Longitudinal Study of Preschool Response Inhibition

The development of response inhibition was investigated using a computerized go/no-go task, in a lagged sequential design where 376 preschool children were assessed repeatedly between 3.0 and 5.25 years of age. Growth curve modeling was used to examine change in performance and predictors of individual differences. The most pronounced change was observed between 3 and 3.75 years. Better working memory and general cognitive ability were related to more accurate performance at all ages, but relations with speed changed with age, where better cognitive skills were initially related to slower responding, but faster responding at later ages. Boys responded more quickly and were more accurate on go trials, whereas girls were better able to withhold responding on no-go trials.

Mapping the Development of Response Inhibition in Young Children Using a Modified Day-Night Task

Response inhibition was examined in 40 children 3½ to 8 years of age using a modified day-night task. Performance in a neutral condition explained variance in congruent and incongruent conditions, indicating that age-related improvements in these latter conditions were partly mediated by working memory and processing speed. After controlling for neutral performance, age did not explain variance in congruent performance but explained variance in incongruent performance. These findings indicate that the associative strength between pictures and labels used in the task is age invariant and that older children are better than younger children at inhibiting responses to these associations.

The development of response inhibition in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

The development of response inhibition in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Development of executive function: more than conscious reflection

In arguing for a role of conscious reflection in successful completion of the A not B task, Marcovitch and Zelazo have provided a novel and potentially viable account of the origin, or more accurately the resolution, of the A not B error. The general U-shaped effect of the number of A trials on the probability of error on a B trial (i.e. greater likelihood of error with intermediate numbers of A trials preceding the critical B trial than with few or many A trials: Marcovitch, Zelazo & Schmuckler, 2002; Marcovitch & Zelazo, 2006), together with the systematic nature of performance on B trials (i.e. that performance on a B trial, once correct, remains correct on subsequent responses: Marcovitch et al. , 2002), appears to provide compelling evidence for Marcovitch and Zelazo’s position. Yet the authors go further – they relate their theory to the development of executive function (EF). This is a laudable goal given the limited research to date on EF abilities of infants. However, close inspection of Marcovitch and Zelazo’s hierarchical competing systems model (HCSM) raises a number of troubling issues. For simplicity, let us begin by accepting the evidence at face value. Does the HCSM advance our understanding of the development of EF? A major difficulty in the study of EF is that different researchers adopt different definitions of EF. Thus, Marcovitch and Zelazo take EF to be ‘the cognitive processes underlying the conscious control of behaviour’ (p. 1, emphasis added), and draw on Miyake, Friedman, Emerson, Witzki, Howerter and Wager’s (2000) characterization of EF as comprising (at least) three separable but interacting components: task switching, response inhibition and memory updating. Miyake et al. , however, characterize EF as ‘general-purpose control mechanisms that modulate the operation of various cognitive subprocesses and thereby regulate the dynamics of human cognition’ (Miyake et al. , 2000, p. 50). Critically, Miyake et al. make no claims about EF and consciousness. In contrast, conscious reflection is the central explanatory mechanism in Marcovitch and Zelazo’s account of correct performance on the A not B task. Unfortunately, Marcovitch and Zelazo provide no evidence that the hypothesized process they label ‘conscious reflection’ has any characteristic of consciousness beyond being discrete all-or-nothing. Worse, ‘conscious reflection’ by itself can provide no account of many accepted findings in A not B and related tasks. For example, infants are more likely to perseverate on the first B trial when the delay between hiding and searching is long than when it is short, but the delay that infants can tolerate without producing perseverative errors increases with age (Diamond, 1985; Marcovitch & Zelazo, 1999). Are we to attribute age-related improvements in delay tolerance to developing processes of consciousness? If so, then those processes would appear to possess attributes (such as decay) normally associated with memory. Even more problematic for a conscious reflection account are the dissociations sometimes observed between looking and reaching on the first B trial (e.g. Diamond, 1990). Given our current understanding of EF, these effects would seem to be well accounted for by the development of response inhibition and memory control processes (Diamond, Cruttenden & Neiderman, 1994), i.e. by more traditional (and less ephemeral) EF. It is therefore unclear how Marcovitch and Zelazo’s appeal to conscious reflection extends our understanding of the development of EF. It remains to consider the key evidence for Marcovitch and Zelazo’s hypothesis: the U-shaped effect of number of A trials and the systematic nature of responses on subsequent B trials. First, the data-fitting of Figure 6 is misleading. This involves the use of three parameters to fit three data points and hence is not persuasive. Second, the U-shaped effect requires further empirical investigation. The main study cited by Marcovitch and Zelazo in support of the effect with infants (Marcovitch et al. , 2002) compared the proportion of erroneous A responses after 1, 6 and 11 A trials. While there was a statistically significant increase in A responses from 1 to 6 A trials, the decrease from 6 to 11 A trials was not statistically significant. (Marcovitch et al. (2002) report χ 2 (1) = 2.95,

The development of response inhibition in 4- and 5-year-old children

Abstract Children younger than 6 years of age have difficulty in mastering discrimination learning tasks. It appears that the response component of such tasks presents particular problems for young children. The work of Luria (1973). Douglas (1975). Bell and Livesey (1985) and Diamond (1988) has indicated that children of this age lack the capacity to inhibit prepotent responses and that many of the observed deficits in discrimination learning relate to performance of the response rather than to learning the significance of cues (i.e., performance rather than cognitive deficits). Two experiments were conducted to examine this age-related change in performance. Children were tested under either active condition (the child making the response) or verbal condition (the child telling the experimenter to respond) in an attempt to separate performance from cognitive components of the task. In Experiment 1,4- and 5-year-old children were tested on a go/no-go discrimination task requiring them to withhold a respo...

The effectiveness of reward and punishment contingencies on response inhibition

The relative effectiveness of reward and punishment on the development of response inhibition was evaluated developmentally. Forty kindergarten and forty second-graders received response inhibition training with half of each group rewarded for inhibiting and half punished for not inhibiting. Reward involved the presentation of positive reinforcers, whereas punishment involved their removal. Punishment produced more inhibition at both age levels than did reward. Transfer of inhibition training was evaluated in two tasks. Transfer effects were observed only on one of the two tasks. Reinforcement contingencies and age did not differentially influence the magnitude of transfer.