Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Sci Adv. 2018 Dec 19;4(12):eaat3702. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aat3702. eCollection 2018 Dec.
Prevailing theories link prefrontal cortex (PFC) maturation to the development of declarative memory. However, the precise spatiotemporal correlates of memory formation in the developing brain are not known. We provide rare intracranial evidence that the spatiotemporal propagation of frontal activity supports memory formation in children. Seventeen subjects (6.2 to 19.4 years) studied visual scenes in preparation for a recognition memory test while undergoing direct cortical monitoring. Earlier PFC activity predicted greater accuracy, and subsecond deviations in activity flow between subregions predicted memory formation. Activity flow between inferior and precentral sites was refined during adolescence, partially explaining gains in memory. In contrast, middle frontal activity predicted memory independent of age. These findings show with subsecond temporal precision that the developing PFC links scene perception and memory formation and underscore the role of the PFC in supporting memory development.
目前的理论将前额叶皮层（PFC）的成熟与陈述性记忆的发展联系起来。然而，在发育中的大脑中，记忆形成的确切时空相关性尚不清楚。我们提供了罕见的颅内证据，表明额叶活动的时空传播支持儿童的记忆形成。17 名受试者（6.2 至 19.4 岁）在进行直接皮质监测的同时，研究视觉场景，为识别记忆测试做准备。较早的 PFC 活动预测了更高的准确性，并且亚秒级的活动流在子区域之间的偏差预测了记忆形成。在青春期期间，中下和中央前部位之间的活动流得到了改善，部分解释了记忆的提高。相比之下，中前额叶活动预测记忆与年龄无关。这些发现以亚秒级的时间精度表明，发育中的 PFC 将场景感知和记忆形成联系起来，并强调了 PFC 在支持记忆发展中的作用。
