Frontal preparatory neural oscillations associated with cognitive control: A developmental study comparing young adults and adolescents

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that age-related changes in the frontal cortex may underlie developmental improvements in cognitive control. In the present study we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify frontal oscillatory neurodynamics that support age-related improvements in cognitive control during adolescence. We characterized the differences in neural oscillations in adolescents and adults during the preparation to suppress a prepotent saccade (antisaccade trials-AS) compared to preparing to generate a more automatic saccade (prosaccade trials-PS). We found that for adults, AS were associated with increased beta-band (16-38Hz) power in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), enhanced alpha- to low beta-band (10-18Hz) power in the frontal eye field (FEF) that predicted performance, and increased cross-frequency alpha-beta (10-26Hz) amplitude coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF. Developmental comparisons between adults and adolescents revealed similar engagement of DLPFC beta-band power but weaker FEF alpha-band power, and lower cross-frequency coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF in adolescents. These results suggest that lateral prefrontal neural activity associated with cognitive control is adult-like by adolescence; the development of cognitive control from adolescence to adulthood is instead associated with increases in frontal connectivity and strengthening of inhibition signaling for suppressing task-incompatible processes.