Research report
Functional neural networks underlying response inhibition in adolescents and adults

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Abstract

This study provides the first description of neural network dynamics associated with response inhibition in healthy adolescents and adults. Functional and effective connectivity analyses of whole brain hemodynamic activity elicited during performance of a Go/No-Go task were used to identify functionally integrated neural networks and characterize their causal interactions. Three response inhibition circuits formed a hierarchical, inter-dependent system wherein thalamic modulation of input to premotor cortex by fronto-striatal regions led to response suppression. Adolescents differed from adults in the degree of network engagement, regional fronto-striatal-thalamic connectivity, and network dynamics. We identify and characterize several age-related differences in the function of neural circuits that are associated with behavioral performance changes across adolescent development.

Section snippets

Material and methods

Our aim was to quantify the coupling between brain regions involved with response inhibition. To do this, we decomposed brain responses elicited by performance on a rapid, event-related visual Go/No-Go cognitive task into a series of spatially independent components, or modes, using independent component analysis (ICA) [35]. ICA is a data-driven multivariate analysis method that identifies distinct groups of brain regions with the same temporal pattern of hemodynamic signal change. We then

Network structure and interactions

The analysis identified three independent components associated principally with successful response inhibition performance. Each component depicts a distinct, functionally integrated circuit of brain regions that have the same pattern of hemodynamic change over time. Table 1 lists these components and their association to all experimental conditions of the Go/No-Go task. Brain regions within each component are listed in Table 2, along with the x, y, and z coordinates of the peak t-score for

Discussion

This study was undertaken to identify and characterize distinct, functionally integrated neural networks engaged by successful response inhibition. To date, evidence for such networks has been inferred largely from comparative studies of anatomical connections among brain regions activated by fMRI tasks that require prepotent response inhibition. Therefore, this study represents a significant step towards understanding how brain systems mutually interact to effect cognitive and behavioral

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by NIMH K23 MH070036 (PI Stevens) the Holton and Yanner Trusts, NIMH 1 R01 MH070539-01 (PI Kiehl), 1 R01 MH071896-01 (PI Kiehl), NIDA RO1 020709 and NIAAA P50-AA12870 (PI Pearlson) and NIBIB R01 EB 000840 and NIBIB R01 EB005846 (PI Calhoun). The authors appreciate the input provided by Drs. Karl Friston, Thomas Ethofer, Darren Gitelman, and Christopher Summerfield on the analytic methods used in this study.

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