Neurophysiology of embedded response plans: age effects in action execution but not in feature integration from preadolescence to adulthood

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

Performing a goal-directed movement consists of a chain of complex preparatory mechanisms. Such planning especially requires integration (or binding) of various action features, a process that has been conceptualized in the “theory of event coding.” Theoretical considerations and empirical research suggest that these processes are subject to developmental effects from adolescence to adulthood. The aim of the present study was to investigate age-related modulations in action feature binding processes and to shed light on underlying neurophysiological development from preadolescence to early adulthood. We examined a group of healthy participants (n = 61) between 10 and 30 yr of age, who performed a task that requires a series of bimanual response selections in an embedded paradigm. For an in-depth analysis of the underlying neural correlates, we applied EEG signal decomposition together with source localization analyses. Behavioral results across the whole group did not show binding effects in reaction times but in intraindividual response variability. From age 10 to 30 yr, there was a decrease in reaction times and reaction time variability but no age-related effect in action file binding. The latter were corroborated by Bayesian data analyses. On the brain level, the developmental effects on response selection were associated with activation modulations in the superior parietal cortex (BA7). The results show that mechanisms of action execution and speed, but not those of action feature binding, are subject to age-related changes between the age of 10 and 30 yr.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1382-1395
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of neurophysiology
Volume125
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85104369839
ORCID /0000-0002-2989-9561/work/146788748
ORCID /0009-0009-1430-3030/work/147708729

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