Cross Zachariah R, Gray Samantha M, Dede Adam J O, Rivera Yessenia M, Yin Qin, Vahidi Parisa, Rau Elias M B, Cyr Christopher, Holubecki Ania M, Asano Eishi, Lin Jack J, Kim McManus Olivia, Sattar Shifteh, Saez Ignacio, Girgis Fady, King-Stephens David, Weber Peter B, Laxer Kenneth D, Schuele Stephan U, Rosenow Joshua M, Wu Joyce Y, Lam Sandi K, Raskin Jeffrey S, Chang Edward F, Shaikhouni Ammar, Brunner Peter, Roland Jarod L, Braga Rodrigo M, Knight Robert T, Ofen Noa, Johnson Elizabeth L
Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Nat Hum Behav. 2025 Jul 21. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02270-x.
The neurophysiological mechanisms supporting brain maturation are fundamental to attention and memory capacity across the lifespan. Human brain regions develop at different rates, with many regions developing into the third and fourth decades of life. Here, in this preregistered study ( https://osf.io/gsru7 ), we analysed intracranial electroencephalography recordings from widespread brain regions in a large developmental cohort. Using task-based (that is, attention to to-be-remembered visual stimuli) and task-free (resting-state) data from 101 children and adults (5.93-54.00 years, 63 males; n electrodes = 5,691), we mapped aperiodic (1/ƒ-like) activity, a proxy of neural noise, where steeper slopes indicate less noise and flatter slopes indicate more noise. We reveal that aperiodic slopes flatten with age into young adulthood in both association and sensorimotor cortices, challenging models of early sensorimotor development based on brain structure. In the prefrontal cortex (PFC), attentional state modulated age effects, revealing steeper task-based than task-free slopes in adults and the opposite in children, consistent with the development of cognitive control. Age-related differences in task-based slopes also explained age-related gains in memory performance, linking the development of PFC cognitive control to the development of memory. Last, with additional structural imaging measures, we reveal that age-related differences in grey matter volume are similarly associated with aperiodic slopes in association and sensorimotor cortices. Our findings establish developmental trajectories of aperiodic activity in localized brain regions and illuminate the development of PFC control during adolescence in the development of attention and memory.
支持大脑成熟的神经生理机制是整个生命周期中注意力和记忆能力的基础。人类大脑区域以不同速度发育，许多区域在生命的第三个和第四个十年仍在发育。在此，在这项预先注册的研究（https://osf.io/gsru7）中，我们分析了来自一个大型发育队列中广泛脑区的颅内脑电图记录。使用来自101名儿童和成人（5.93 - 54.00岁，63名男性；n个电极 = 5691）的基于任务（即关注要记忆的视觉刺激）和无任务（静息状态）的数据，我们绘制了非周期性（1/ƒ样）活动，这是神经噪声的一个指标，较陡的斜率表明噪声较少，较平的斜率表明噪声较多。我们发现，在联合皮层和感觉运动皮层中，非周期性斜率随着年龄增长在青年期趋于平缓，这对基于脑结构的早期感觉运动发育模型提出了挑战。在前额叶皮层（PFC）中，注意力状态调节了年龄效应，显示出在成年人中基于任务的斜率比无任务的斜率更陡，而在儿童中则相反，这与认知控制的发展一致。基于任务的斜率的年龄相关差异也解释了记忆表现的年龄相关提升，将PFC认知控制的发展与记忆的发展联系起来。最后，通过额外的结构成像测量，我们发现灰质体积的年龄相关差异同样与联合皮层和感觉运动皮层中的非周期性斜率相关。我们的研究结果确定了局部脑区非周期性活动的发育轨迹，并阐明了在注意力和记忆发展过程中青春期PFC控制的发展情况。
