Neural oscillatory dynamics serving abstract reasoning reveal robust sex differences in typically-developing children and adolescents. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Taylor, Brittany K.; Embury, Christine M.; Heinrichs-Graham, Elizabeth; Frenzel, Michaela R.; Eastman, Jacob A.; Wiesman, Alex I.; Wang, Yu-Ping; Calhoun, Vince D.; Stephen, Julia M.; Wilson, Tony W.
• Is Part Of: Developmental cognitive neuroscience. Volume 42(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: Fluid intelligence -- MEG -- Oscillations -- Theta -- Sex effects -- Dev-CoG; Cognitive neuroscience -- Periodicals; Developmental neurobiology -- Periodicals; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Neuropsychiatry -- Periodicals; 612.8233
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100770
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1878-9293

Abstract

Highlights: A cohort of 10–16 year-olds completed an abstract reasoning task during MEG. Performance on the abstract reasoning task correlated with fluid intelligence. The task was associated with increased cortical dynamics in frontoparietal areas. Youth showed sexually divergent patterns of distributed cortical activity with age. Specific frontoparietal activity differentially predicted aspects of task behavior. Abstract: Fluid intelligence, the ability to problem-solve in novel situations, is linked to higher-order cognitive abilities, and to academic achievement in youth. Previous research has demonstrated that fluid intelligence and the underlying neural circuitry continues to develop throughout adolescence. Neuroimaging studies have predominantly focused on identifying the spatial distribution of brain regions associated with fluid intelligence, with only a few studies examining the temporally-sensitive cortical oscillatory dynamics underlying reasoning abilities. The present study collected magnetoencephalography (MEG) during an abstract reasoning task to examine these spatiotemporal dynamics in a sample of 10-to-16 year-old youth. We found increased cortical activity across a distributed frontoparietal network. Specifically, our key results showed: (1) age was associated with increased theta activity in occipital and cerebellar regions, (2) robust sex differences were distributed across frontoparietal regions, and (3) that specific frontoparietal regions differentially predicted abstract reasoning performance among males versus females despite similar mean performance. Among males, increased theta activity mediated the relationship between age and faster reaction times; conversely, among females, decreased theta mediated the relationship between age and improved accuracy. These findings may suggest that males and females engage in distinct neurocognitive strategies across development to achieve similar behavioral outcomes during fluid reasoning tasks.