Cognitive Control in Adolescence: Neural Underpinnings and Relation to Self-Report Behaviors

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescence is commonly characterized by impulsivity, poor decision-making, and lack of foresight. However, the developmental neural underpinnings of these characteristics are not well established.Methodology/Principal FindingsTo test the hypothesis that these adolescent behaviors are linked to under-developed proactive control mechanisms, the present study employed a hybrid block/event-related functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Stroop paradigm combined with self-report questionnaires in a large sample of adolescents and adults, ranging in age from 14 to 25. Compared to adults, adolescents under-activated a set of brain regions implicated in proactive top-down control across task blocks comprised of difficult and easy trials. Moreover, the magnitude of lateral prefrontal activity in adolescents predicted self-report measures of impulse control, foresight, and resistance to peer pressure. Consistent with reactive compensatory mechanisms to reduced proactive control, older adolescents exhibited elevated transient activity in regions implicated in response-related interference resolution.Conclusions/SignificanceCollectively, these results suggest that maturation of cognitive control may be partly mediated by earlier development of neural systems supporting reactive control and delayed development of systems supporting proactive control. Importantly, the development of these mechanisms is associated with cognitive control in real-life behaviors.

Contribution of reactive and proactive control to children’s working memory performance: Insight from item recall durations in response sequence planning.

“…Response sequence planning continued to develop after 7 as shown by increasing differences between the preparatory intervals and subsequent item recall durations with advancing age, especially for the longest sequences. Consistent with these findings, although children start to engage proactive control from about 6 years of age, proactive control continues to increase through early adulthood on other executive control measures (Andrews-Hanna et al, 2011; Waxer & Morton, 2011). …”

“…Response planning is a critical feature of proactive control (Andrews-Hanna et al, 2011; Killikelly & Szűcs, 2013; West, Bailey, Tiernan, Boonsuk, & Gilbert, 2012). Its contribution to working memory can be measured through recall item duration, that is, the time that elapses between the recall of two successive items.…”

Assessing Internet Addiction Using the Parsimonious Internet Addiction Components Model—A Preliminary Study

“…Concerning (iii), adolescents' cognitive control capabilities related to impulse control, foresight, and resistance to peer pressure may not have fully developed (Andrews-Hanna et al, 2011), indicating that the adolescents may lack introspective ability to comprehend potentially problematic Internet usage.…”

Metacognitive Processes in Executive Control Development: The Case of Reactive and Proactive Control

“…They observed that, when asked to respond to specific cue-target associations, 3-year-olds show greater late mental effort (as shown by greater pupil dilation) after target onset, showing no anticipation of the target, whereas 8-year-olds show greater early mental effort before target onset; suggesting a shift from reactive to proactive control during childhood. The shift to proactive control seems to occur around 6 years of age, although proactive control continues to develop through late adolescence (Andrews-Hanna et al, 2011; Chatham, Provan, & Munakata, in revision; Chevalier & al., 2014; Lucenet & Blaye, 2014). Understanding the reasons why young children do not engage the most mature and efficient forms of control is critical to uncover the mechanisms underpinning executive control development and to design effective interventions early in childhood.…”