engleski

An event-related potential (ERP) study of cognitive control in young adulthood

When competing responses are activated, but only one can be selected, response conflict arises and elicits a cascade of cognitive processes including selective attention, conflict detection, response selection and suppression, and post-response monitoring. These processes are often referred to as cognitive control. One of the classic and widely applied cognitive control tasks is the Stroop task, where participants need to filter out interfering information or suppress its further processing. The aim of this study was to investigate brain dynamic changes of cognitive control processes in young adulthood, using event-related (ERP) brain activity and a modified four-color Stroop task. A total of 109 participants were included in the study, divided into three age groups: late adolescents (ages 19 - 21), young adults (ages 23 - 27) and mid adults (ages 28 - 44). Performance results revealed that mid adults were overall more accurate compared to both late adolescents and young adults. ERPs showed age differences in P2 (selective attention) and N2 (conflict monitoring) amplitudes indicating less effective recruitment of cognitive control resources in late adolescents compared to mid adults after high-conflict trials. These findings point to the continuation of age-related differences in brain maturational processes underling cognitive control well into adulthood.

cognitive control, young adulthood, event - related potentials, protracted brain maturation

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