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. 2023 Apr;60(4):e14211.
doi: 10.1111/psyp.14211. Epub 2022 Nov 9.

Development of auditory change-detection and attentional capture, and their relation to inhibitory control

Santiago Morales  1   2 , Maureen E Bowers  2 , Stephanie C Leach  2 , George A Buzzell  3   4 , Marco McSweeney  2 , Lydia Yoder  2 , William Fifer  5 , Amy J Elliott  6   7 , Nathan A Fox  2
Affiliations

Development of auditory change-detection and attentional capture, and their relation to inhibitory control

Santiago Morales et al. Psychophysiology. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

EEG methods offer a promising approach to study the development of attention or attention-related processes such as change-detection and attentional capture. However, the development of these attention processes from early to middle childhood is not well understood. In the current study, we utilized a passive three-stimulus oddball paradigm to examine age-related changes in auditory change-detection and attentional capture in a large sample of children across childhood (N = 475; 249 female, 226 male; Mage = 6.71; SDage = 2.22; Rangeage = 4.01-11.5 years). Conventional ERP analyses revealed no age-related changes in change detection (mismatch negativity) and attentional capture (P3a) components, but we observed age-related reductions in late automatic processing of auditory change (late discriminative negativity). However, when utilizing time-frequency analyses, we observed developmental increases in frontocentral signal strength (power) and consistency (inter-trial phase synchrony) in delta and theta bands in response to novel sounds. Such frontocentral delta/theta responses have been linked in prior work to cognitive control. To further examine this possibility, we examined relations with inhibitory control. Results revealed that increased consistency in theta in response to novel sounds was related to improved inhibitory control. Together, our results advance our understanding of the development of attention in childhood. Moreover, they demonstrate the contributions of time-frequency approaches to studying neurocognitive development. Finally, our results highlight the utility of neuroimaging paradigms that have low cognitive and motor demands to study the development of psychological processes.

Keywords: MMN; P3; children; developmental research; time-frequency.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
ERP Measures: MMN, LDN, and P3a. ERP plots by condition (A) and as a difference score (B; Deviant – Standard and Novel – Standard) for the overall sample labeling the three ERPs elicited by the three-stimulus oddball paradigm. The topography of each of the components (as a difference score) is displayed on the far right.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Time-frequency surfaces of power by condition for frontocentral cluster and topographs for the delta (2–4 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz) between 0–400 ms.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Time-frequency dynamics of delta and theta power in response to standard, deviant, and novel sounds. Plots show time-frequency power for each condition across all participants (A, C), age-related changes in time-frequency power in the selected time window (B, D) for each condition.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Time-frequency surfaces of inter-trials phase synchrony (ITPS) by condition for frontocentral cluster and topographs for the delta (2–4 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz) between 0–400 ms.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Time-frequency dynamics of delta and theta inter-trial phase synchrony (ITPS) at the FCz cluster in response to standard, deviant, and novel sounds. Plots show ITPS for each condition across all participants (A, C), age-related changes in ITPS in the selected time window (B, D) for each condition.
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