Functional organization of the cerebral cortex during preparation to recognition of incomplete linedrawings in 7-8 years-old children and adults
Farber, D.A.; Machinskaia, R.I.; Kurganskiĭ, A.V.; Petrenko, N.E.
Fiziologiia Cheloveka 40(5): 5-13
2014
ISSN/ISBN: 0131-1646 PMID: 25711090 Document Number: 672554
Functional interaction between prefrontal, temporal and tempo-parieto-occipital zones during preparation to recognition of incomplete linedrawings were analyzed in adults (n = 26) and children of 7-8 years old (n = 20). The strength of cortico-cortical interactions was estimated with the imaginary part of the complex-valued coherence at the frequency of alpha-rhythm (Jα). The Jα value was analyzed in the following three experimental conditions which corresponded to different stages of preparation to visual recognition: nonspecific sustained attention in the period preceding the cue (C1); focused attention in the period preceding a not-yet-recognized target stimulus (C2) and focused attention prior the successfully recognized stimulus (C3). When sustained attention changed to focused attention toward a target stimulus Jα increased in adults but decreased in children. Comparing Jα in the subgroups of both adults and children that showed highest recognition scores helped to uncover the age-related pattern of rearrangement of the cortico-cortical functional interactions in alpha-rhythm. That pattern was found to be hemisphere-specific and different at different stages of preparation to recognition of incomplete linedrawings. In adults, the maximal Jα were found in the left hemisphere during the period preceding the recognition of a target stimulus. At this stage of the functional preparatory tuning, in adults, Jα in the left hemisphere was significantly greater than in children. In adults, Jα related to the right hemisphere attained the highest values when attention was directed to not-yet-recognized stimuli. These values were significantly higher than similar values measured in children. In children, Jα reached its highest value during sustained attention. The characteristic pattern of functional interactions among prefrontal, temporal and temporo-parieto-occipital cortices that observed in children of 7-8 years old during preparatory functional tuning for the recognition of incomplete linedrawings is considered to be an indication of relative immaturity of mechanisms of directed voluntary attention and working memory.