Top-down control of MEG alpha-band activity in children performing Categorical N-Back Task

▶ The prefrontal-parietal networks associated with top-down cognitive control in adults are not matured in 10-year olds, yet children perform well on visual-working memory tasks. ▶ We use magnetoencephalography (MEG) to monitor in children and adults event-related desynchronization (ERD) and synchronization (ERS) of parietal-occipital alpha-band oscillatory activity (8-13 Hz) during top-down anticipatory, target detection and post-response stages of the Categorical N-Back Task (CNBT). ▶ Since children performed as well as the adults on CNBT and yet displayed developmentally distinct, task-stage-determined patterns of ERD/ERS we suggest that children may be using different top-down cognitive strategies and, hence, different, developmentally apt neuronal networks.