Changes in prefrontal function over childhood and adolescence
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1
University of California, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, United States
The most anterior part of lateral prefrontal cortex, known as rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC; ~BA 10/47, 10/46), has been implicated in the ability to integrate, or jointly consider, several mental representations or relations in the service of reasoning and planning. We have studied the role of RLPFC and its interactions with other brain regions during performance of transitive inference, propositional analogy, matrix reasoning, and relational matching tests. Across these fMRI studies, we have found that RLPFC is engaged in a domain-general manner when it is necessary to engage in relational integration, or 2nd-order relational processing, interacting with different regions depending on the nature of the 1st-order relations that must be integrated. Further, we have found that the pattern of selective engagement for 2nd-order processing emerges during adolescence. Indeed, across several tasks, we have found that RLPFC is engaged during middle childhood during relational reasoning, but that it is engaged indiscriminately for 1st- and 2nd-order relational problems. Across children, adolescents, and adults, the bigger the difference in RLPFC activation for 2nd- vs. 1st-order relational problems, the better the performance on 2nd-order problems. We have now shown that this increase in functional selectivity and associated improvement in performance is associated with cortical thinning in RLPFC, consistent with the idea that synaptic pruning results in more efficient, selective processing in local circuitry in prefrontal cortex. At the same time that the local circuitry is being refined over development, long-range projections between distant brain regions are being strengthened. Across multiple white matter tracts, increased fractional anisotropy (reflecting white matter integrity) and decreased radial diffusivity (more specifically thought to reflect myelination) are associated with age-related improvements in relational processing.
References
1. Bunge et al. In M. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The Cognitive Neurosciences III.
2. Bunge & Wendelken. Neuron 2009, 62, 609-611.
3. Crone et al. Developmental Science 2009, 12, 55-66.
4. Wendelken & Bunge. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 2009, Mar 25 [Epub ahead of print]
Conference:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Citation:
Bunge
S
(2010). Changes in prefrontal function over childhood and adolescence.
Conference Abstract:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00005
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Received:
24 Jun 2010;
Published Online:
24 Jun 2010.
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Correspondence:
Silvia Bunge, University of California, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, United States, sbunge@berkeley.edu