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. 2001 Jul;2(3):311-330.
doi: 10.1207/S15327078IN0203_2. Epub 2001 Jul 1.

Brain Electrical Activity Associated With Cognitive Processing During a Looking Version of the A-Not-B Task

Martha Ann Bell  1
Affiliations

Brain Electrical Activity Associated With Cognitive Processing During a Looking Version of the A-Not-B Task

Martha Ann Bell. Infancy. 2001 Jul.

Abstract

This work was designed to investigate individual differences in brain electrical activity during a looking version of the A-not-B task. It was proposed that this spatial task required the cognitive skills of working memory and inhibitory control, each associated with frontal lobe function. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) were recorded from 54 8-month-old infants during baseline and task. Only high performers on the looking task exhibited increases in 6- to 9-Hz EEG power from baseline to task. These task-related changes were evident at frontal and posterior scalp locations. High performers on the looking task exhibited lower EEG coherence values at right hemisphere frontal locations relative to the low performers. These lower coherence values were evident during baseline and task. All infants showed increased frontal-parietal coherence during the spatial working memory task relative to baseline values. These data confirm previous cognitive neuroscience work associating frontal lobe function with cognitive performance levels during infancy.

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References

REFERENCES

    1. Bell, M. A. (1998). The ontogeny of the EEG during infancy and childhood: Implications for cognitive development In B. Garreau (Ed.), Neuroimaging in child neuropsychiatry disorders (pp. 97-111). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
    1. Bell, M. A., & Adams, S. E. (1999). Comparable performance on looking and reaching versions of the A-not-B task at 8 months of age. Infant Behavior and Development, 22, 221-235.
    1. Bell, M. A., & Fox, N. A. (1992). The relations between frontal brain electrical activity and cognitive development during infancy. Child Development, 63, 1142-1163.
    1. Bell, M. A., & Fox, N. A. (1994). Brain development over the first year of life: Relations between EEG frequency & coherence and cognitive & affective behaviors. In G. Dawson & K. W. Fischer (Eds.), Human behavior and the developing brain (pp. 314-345). New York: Guilford.
    1. Bell, M. A., & Fox, N. A. (1996). Crawling experience is related to changes in cortical organization during infancy: Evidence from EEG coherence. Developmental Psychobiology, 29, 551-561.

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