Child and adolescent development of the brain oscillatory activity during a working memory task

Carlos M Gómez; Vanesa Muñoz; Elena I Rodríguez-Martínez; Antonio Arjona; Catarina I Barriga-Paulino; Santiago Pelegrina

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2023.105969

Child and adolescent development of the brain oscillatory activity during a working memory task

Brain Cogn. 2023 Apr:167:105969. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2023.105969. Epub 2023 Mar 21.

Authors

Carlos M Gómez¹, Vanesa Muñoz², Elena I Rodríguez-Martínez³, Antonio Arjona⁴, Catarina I Barriga-Paulino⁵, Santiago Pelegrina⁶

Affiliations

¹ Human Psychobiology Laboratory, Experimental Psychology Department, University of Sevilla, C/ Camilo José Cela S/N, 41018 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: cgomez@us.es.
² Human Psychobiology Laboratory, Experimental Psychology Department, University of Sevilla, C/ Camilo José Cela S/N, 41018 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: lmunnoz@us.es.
³ Human Psychobiology Laboratory, Experimental Psychology Department, University of Sevilla, C/ Camilo José Cela S/N, 41018 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: elisroma@us.es.
⁴ Human Psychobiology Laboratory, Experimental Psychology Department, University of Sevilla, C/ Camilo José Cela S/N, 41018 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: aarjona@us.es.
⁵ Center for Biomedical Research, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal. Electronic address: cipaulino@ualg.pt.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Jaen, Jaen, Spain. Electronic address: spelegri@ujaen.es.

PMID: 36958141
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2023.105969

Abstract

The developmental trajectories of brain oscillations during the encoding and maintenance phases of a Working Memory (WM) task were calculated. The Delayed-Match-to-Sample Test (DMTS) was applied to 239 subjects of 6-29 years, while EEG was recorded. The Event-Related Spectral Perturbation (ERSP) was obtained in the range between 1 and 25 Hz during the encoding and maintenance phases. Behavioral parameters of reaction times (RTs) and response accuracy were simultaneously recorded. The results indicate a myriad of transient and sustained bursts of oscillatory activity from low frequencies (1 Hz) to the beta range (up to 19 Hz). Beta and Low-frequency ERSP increases were prominent in the encoding phase in all age groups, while low-frequency ERSP indexed the maintenance phase only in children and adolescents, but not in late adolescents and young adults, suggesting an age-dependent neural mechanism of stimulus trace maintenance. While the latter group showed Beta and Alpha indices of anticipatory attention for the retrieval phase. Mediation analysis showed an important role of early Delta-Theta and late Alpha oscillations for mediation between age and behavioral responses performance. In conclusion, the results show a complex pattern of oscillatory bursts during the encoding and maintenance phases with a consistent pattern of developmental changes.

Keywords: Brain oscillations; Delayed match-to-sample test; Developmental trajectory; Ontogenetic development; Working memory.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Development*
Brain / physiology
Child
Electroencephalography
Humans
Memory, Short-Term* / physiology
Reaction Time
Young Adult