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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Mapping the developmental course of the multispectral dynamics serving executive functioning

  • Jake J. Son1,2,3
  • Caroline E. Howard1,2,4
  • Elizabeth Santos1,2,5
  • Abraham D. Killanin1,2,3
  • Danielle L. Rice1,2
  • Mikki Schantell1,2,6,7
  • Thomas W. Ward1,2,8
  • Grace C. Ende1,2
  • Anna T. Coutant1,2
  • Christine M. Embury1,2
  • Giorgia Picci1,2,8
  • Tony W. Wilson1,2,3,8
8 affiliations
  1. 1Institute for Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
  2. 2Center for Pediatric Brain Health, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
  3. 3College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
  4. 4Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  5. 5Department of Psychology, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, USA
  6. 6Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
  7. 7Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
  8. 8Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA
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Abstract

While the cortical regions serving basic sensory processing undergo extensive maturation during early childhood that slows considerably during adolescence, the circuitry and neural dynamics serving higher-order executive functions continue to develop throughout adolescence and early adulthood. While many studies have mapped the accompanying changes in cortical thickness and brain activation, far fewer have quantified changes in the cortical dynamics that likely underlie the improvements seen in executive function during this developmental window. In the current study, we use an advanced dynamic functional mapping technique based on high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) to quantify neural oscillatory responses during a validated executive function task in 80 typically developing 11–16 year-olds. All MEG data were transformed into the time-frequency domain and significant oscillatory responses were imaged using a beamforming approach. The resulting voxel-wise, whole-brain functional images were examined for developmental changes using chronological age, sex, and sex-by-age interactions. Our primary results indicated that alpha oscillations in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex became significantly weaker (i.e., less negative relative to baseline) with increasing age. Likewise, the strength of gamma oscillations also declined with increasing age in the left prefrontal cortex, left superior parietal cortices, and the right supplementary motor area. Critically, significant age-by-sex interactions in the alpha and gamma range were identified in the bilateral parietal cortices. These findings reveal developmental changes in alpha and gamma oscillatory dynamics in key cortical regions for higher-order cognitive function which may support the refinement of executive function during adolescence and early adulthood.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{son2026mapping,
  title = {{Mapping the developmental course of the multispectral dynamics serving executive functioning}},
  author = {Jake J. Son and Caroline E. Howard and Elizabeth Santos and Abraham D. Killanin and Danielle L. Rice and Mikki Schantell and Thomas W. Ward and Grace C. Ende and Anna T. Coutant and Christine M. Embury and Giorgia Picci and Tony W. Wilson},
  journal = {Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101842},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101842},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Mapping the developmental course of the multispectral dynamics serving executive functioning
AU  - Jake J. Son
AU  - Caroline E. Howard
AU  - Elizabeth Santos
AU  - Abraham D. Killanin
AU  - Danielle L. Rice
AU  - Mikki Schantell
AU  - Thomas W. Ward
AU  - Grace C. Ende
AU  - Anna T. Coutant
AU  - Christine M. Embury
AU  - Giorgia Picci
AU  - Tony W. Wilson
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/22
JO  - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
DO  - 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101842
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101842
AB  - While the cortical regions serving basic sensory processing undergo extensive maturation during early childhood that slows considerably during adolescence, the circuitry and neural dynamics serving higher-order executive functions continue to develop throughout adolescence and early adulthood. While many studies have mapped the accompanying changes in cortical thickness and brain activation, far fewer have quantified changes in the cortical dynamics that likely underlie the improvements seen in executive function during this developmental window. In the current study, we use an advanced dynamic functional mapping technique based on high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) to quantify neural oscillatory responses during a validated executive function task in 80 typically developing 11–16 year-olds. All MEG data were transformed into the time-frequency domain and significant oscillatory responses were imaged using a beamforming approach. The resulting voxel-wise, whole-brain functional images were examined for developmental changes using chronological age, sex, and sex-by-age interactions. Our primary results indicated that alpha oscillations in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex became significantly weaker (i.e., less negative relative to baseline) with increasing age. Likewise, the strength of gamma oscillations also declined with increasing age in the left prefrontal cortex, left superior parietal cortices, and the right supplementary motor area. Critically, significant age-by-sex interactions in the alpha and gamma range were identified in the bilateral parietal cortices. These findings reveal developmental changes in alpha and gamma oscillatory dynamics in key cortical regions for higher-order cognitive function which may support the refinement of executive function during adolescence and early adulthood.
SN  - 1878-9293
SN  - 1878-9307
ER  -