Developmental differences in sustained and transient activity underlying working memory.

ABSTRACT: The amount of information one can maintain in working memory (WM) increases between childhood and adulthood (Gathercole, 1994, 1999; Klingberg, 1998; Luciana, 1998; Luciana and Nelson, 1998). In addition to cognitive changes that occur early in life, childhood and adolescence are periods marked by significant neuroanatomical changes that are thought to underlie cognitive maturation. This study used a mixed state-item design and a parametric "n-back" task to explore the relationship between WM load and neural activity changes with age. Thirty-five participants from two age groups (9 to 13 and 18 to 23years) were recruited. Our behavioral results indicated that children performed significantly worse than adults at loads of 2-back, but not 0- and 1-back. Our imaging results indicated that dur

SUBMITTER: Brahmbhatt SB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2940123 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature