Negative urgency as a risk factor for hazardous alcohol use: Dual influences of cognitive control and reinforcement processing.

Negative Urgency (NU) is a prominent risk factor for hazardous alcohol use. While research has helped elucidate how NU relates to neurobiological functioning with respect to alcohol use, no known work has contextualized such functioning within existing neurobiological theories in addiction. Therefore, we elucidated mechanisms contributing to the NU-hazardous alcohol use relationship by combining NU theories with neurobiological dual models of addiction, which posit addiction is related to cognitive control and reinforcement processing. Fifty-five undergraduates self-reported NU and hazardous alcohol use. We recorded EEG while participants performed a reinforced flanker task. We measured cognitive control using N2 activation time-locked to the incongruent flanker stimulus, and we measured reinforcement processing using the feedback-related negativity (FRN) time-locked to better-than-expected negative reinforcement feedback. We modeled hazardous drinking using hierarchical regression, with NU, N2, and FRN plus their interactions as predictors. The regression model significantly predicted hazardous alcohol use, and the three-way interaction (NU × N2 × FRN) significantly improved model fit. In the context of inefficient processing (i.e., larger N2s and FRNs), NU demonstrated a strong relationship with hazardous alcohol use. In the context of efficient processing (i.e., smaller N2s and FRNs), NU was unrelated to hazardous alcohol use. Control analyses ruled out the potential impact of other impulsivity subscales, individual differences in dimensional negative affect or anxiety, and use of substances other than alcohol, and post hoc specificity analyses showed that this effect was driven primarily by heavy drinking, rather than frequency of drinking. This analysis provides preliminary evidence that brain mechanisms of cognitive control and reinforcement processing influence the relationship between NU and hazardous alcohol use, and confirms a specific influence of negative reinforcement processing. Future clinical research could leverage these neurobiological moderators for substance misuse treatment.

Frontal midline theta differentiates separate cognitive control strategies while still generalizing the need for cognitive control.

Cognitive control processes encompass many distinct components, including response inhibition (stopping a prepotent response), proactive control (using prior information to enact control), reactive control (last-minute changing of a prepotent response), and conflict monitoring (choosing between two competing responses). While frontal midline theta activity is theorized to be a general marker of the need for cognitive control, a stringent test of this hypothesis would require a quantitative, within-subject comparison of the neural activation patterns indexing many different cognitive control strategies, an experiment lacking in the current literature. We recorded EEG from 176 participants as they performed tasks that tested inhibitory control (Go/Nogo Task), proactive and reactive control (AX-Continuous Performance Task), and resolving response conflict (Global/Local Task-modified Flanker Task). As activity in the theta (4-8 Hz) frequency band is thought to be a common signature of cognitive control, we assessed frontal midline theta activation underlying each cognitive control strategy. In all strategies, we found higher frontal midline theta power for trials that required more cognitive control (target conditions) versus control conditions. Additionally, reactive control and inhibitory control had higher theta power than proactive control and response conflict, and proactive control had higher theta power than response conflict. Using decoding analyses, we were able to successfully decode control from target trials using classifiers trained exclusively on each of the other strategies, thus firmly demonstrating that theta representations of cognitive control generalize across multiple cognitive control strategies. Our results confirm that frontal midline theta-band activity is a common mechanism for initiating and executing cognitive control, but theta power also differentiates between cognitive control mechanisms. As theta activation reliably differs depending on the cognitive control strategy employed, future work will need to focus on the differential role of theta in differing cognitive control strategies.

The aversion positivity: Mediofrontal cortical potentials reflect parametric aversive prediction errors and drive behavioral modification following negative reinforcement.

Reinforcement learning capitalizes on prediction errors (PEs), representing the deviation of received outcomes from expected outcomes. Mediofrontal event-related potentials (ERPs), in particular the feedback-related negativity (FRN)/reward positivity (RewP), are related to PE signaling, but there is disagreement as to whether the FRN/RewP encode signed or unsigned PEs. PE encoding can potentially be dissected by time-frequency analysis, as frontal theta [4-8 Hz] might represent poor outcomes, while central delta [1-3 Hz] might instead represent rewarding outcomes. However, cortical PE signaling in negative reinforcement is still poorly understood, and the role of cortical PE representations in behavioral reinforcement learning following negative reinforcement is relatively unexplored. We recorded EEG while participants completed a task with matched positive and negative reinforcement outcome modalities, with parametrically manipulated single-trial outcomes producing positive and negative PEs. We first demonstrated that PEs systematically influence future behavior in both positive and negative reinforcement conditions. In negative reinforcement conditions, mediofrontal ERPs positively signaled unsigned PEs in a time window encompassing the P2 potential, and negatively signaled signed PEs for a time window encompassing the FRN/RewP and frontal P3 (an "aversion positivity"). Central delta power increased parametrically with increasingly aversive outcomes, contributing to the "aversion positivity". Finally, negative reinforcement ERPs correlated with RTs on the following trial, suggesting cortical PEs guide behavioral adaptations. Positive reinforcement PEs did not influence ERP or time-frequency activity, despite significant behavioral effects. These results demonstrate that mediofrontal PE signals are a mechanism underlying negative reinforcement learning, and that delta power increases for aversive outcomes might contribute to the "aversion positivity."

Delta phase reset predicts conflict-related changes in P3 amplitude and behavior.

When multiple competing responses are activated, we respond more slowly than if only one response is activated (response conflict). Conflict-induced slowing is reduced for consecutive high-conflict stimuli, an effect known as conflict adaptation. Verguts and Notebaert's (2009) adaptation by binding theory suggests this is due to Hebbian learning of cognitive control, potentiated by the response of the locus coeruleus norepinephrine (NE) system. Phasic activity of the NE system can potentially be measured non-invasively in humans by recording the P3 component of the event-related potential (ERP), and the P3 is sensitive to conflict adaptation. Bouret and Sara's (2005) network reset theory suggests that phasic NE might functionally reset ongoing large-scale network activity, generating synchronous neural population activity like the P3. To examine the possibility that network reset contributes to conflict effects in the P3, we recorded high-density EEG data while subjects performed a flanker task. As expected, conflict and conflict adaptation modulated P3 amplitudes. Brain-behavior correlation analyses indicated that activity during the rise of the P3 was related to RT and predicted RT differences due to conflict. More importantly, phase of delta oscillations not only predicted reaction time differences between low-conflict and high-conflict conditions, but delta phase reset also predicted the amplitude of the P3. Delta oscillations exhibited dominant peaks both pre and post-stimulus, and delta at stimulus onset predicted the post-stimulus ERP, in particular the N2 and P3. This result bridges human EEG with basic mechanisms suggested by computational neural models and invasive patient recordings, namely that salient cognitive events might reset ongoing oscillations leading to the generation of the phase-locked evoked potential. We conclude that partial phase reset is a cortical mechanism involved in monitoring the environment for unexpected events, and this response contributes to conflict effects in the ERP. These results are in line with theories that phasic NE release might reset ongoing cortical activity, leading to the generation of ERP components like the P3.

Conducting Event-Related Potential (ERP) Research with Young Children: A Review of Components, Special Considerations and Recommendations for Research on Cognition and Emotion.

There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of research studies employing event-related potential (ERP) techniques to examine dynamic and rapidly-occurring neural processes with children during the preschool and early childhood years. Despite this, there has been little discussion of the methodological and procedural differences that exist for studies of young children versus older children and adults. That is, reviewers, editors, and consumers of this work often expect developmental studies to simply apply adult techniques and procedures to younger samples. Procedurally, this creates unrealistic expectations for research paradigms, data collection, and data reduction and analyses. Scientifically, this leads to inappropriate measures and methods that hinder drawing conclusions and advancing theory. Based on ERP work with preschoolers and young children from 10 laboratories across North America, we present a summary of the most common ERP components under study in the area of emotion and cognition in young children along with 13 realistic expectations for data collection and loss, laboratory procedures and paradigms, data processing, ERP averaging, and typical challenges for conducting this type of work. This work is intended to supplement previous guidelines for work with adults and offer insights to aid researchers, reviewers, and editors in the design and evaluation of developmental research using ERPs. Here we make recommendations for researchers who plan to conduct or who are conducting ERP studies in children between ages 2 and 12, focusing on studies of toddlers and preschoolers. Recommendations are based on both data and our cumulative experience and include guidelines for laboratory setup, equipment and recording settings, task design, and data processing.

Feedback-Related Negativity and Frontal Midline Theta Reflect Dissociable Processing of Reinforcement.

Prediction errors (PEs) encode representations of rewarding and aversive experiences and are critical to reinforcement processing. The feedback-related negativity (FRN), a component of the event-related potential (ERP) that is sensitive to valenced feedback, is believed to reflect PE signals. Reinforcement is also studied using frontal midline theta (FMΘ) activity, which peaks around the same time as the FRN and increases in response to unexpected events compared to expected events. We recorded EEG while participants completed a monetary incentive delay (MID) task that included positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement conditions with multiple levels of the outcome, as well as control conditions that had no reinforcement value. Despite the overlap of FRN and FMΘ, these measures indexed dissociable cognitive processing. The FRN was sensitive to errors in both positive and negative reinforcement but not in control conditions, while frontal theta instead was sensitive to outcomes in positive reinforcement and control conditions, but not in negative reinforcement conditions. The FRN was sensitive to the point level of feedback in both positive and negative reinforcement, while FMΘ was not influenced by the feedback point level. Results are consistent with recent results indicating that the FRN is influenced by unsigned PEs (i.e., a salience signal). In contrast, we suggest that our findings for frontal theta are consistent with hypotheses suggesting that the neural generators of FMΘ are sensitive to both negative cues and the need for control.

Attentional Conflict Moderates the Association Between Anxiety and Emotional Eating Behavior: An ERP Study.

Emotional eating is an attempt to avoid, control, or cope with negative emotions through eating a large amount of calorie dense sweet and/or high fat foods. Several factors, including various attentional mechanisms, negative affect, and stress, impact emotional eating behavior. For example, attentional narrowing on negative events may increase attentional stickiness and thereby prevent the processing of more peripheral events, such as eating behavior. This study contributes to the extant literature by examining the neural correlates underlying the attentional conflict between processing negative events and regulating behavior within a task that emulates how negative life experiences might contribute to unrestrained eating behavior. We explore this question within a normative sample that varies in their self-reported anxiety symptoms. Dense-array EEG was collected while participants played the attentional blink game-a task in which excessive attentional resource allocated to one event (e.g., negative picture) interferes with the adequate attentional processing of a second event that requires action. To assess the attentional conflict, we measured N2 activation, an event-related potentials (ERPs; averaged EEG) associated with conflict processing. Results revealed that N2 activation moderates the association between anxiety and emotional-eating behavior. Thus, increased anxiety combined with more negative N2 activation can contribute to emotional-eating behavior. These results are discussed in the context of ineffective conflict processing contributing to poor emotion regulation.

Neural mechanisms underlying the link between effortful control and aggression: An ERP study.

Aggression and violence are social behaviors that exact a significant toll on human societies. Individuals with aggressive tendencies display deficits in effortful control, particularly in affectively charged situations. However, not all individuals with poor effortful control are aggressive. This study uses event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded from a large sample (n = 75 undergraduates) to decompose the chronology of neural mechanisms underlying the ability to effortfully-control behavior, and then explores whether deficits in these cognitive functions might then lead to aggressive behavior. This study investigated which ERPs moderate the effortful control - aggression association. We examined three successive ERP components, the P2, N2, and P3, which have been associated with attentional orienting, response conflict, and working memory updating, for stimuli that required effortful control. N2 amplitudes were larger for trials requiring a switch from a preplanned action strategy than trials where a preplanned action strategy was followed. Furthermore, results indicated that N2 activation, but not P2 or P3 activation, moderated the relationship between effortful control and aggression. Our results suggest that small (less negative) N2s moderate the association between effortful control and aggression. These effects were present only in negative contexts, and only for high-conflict trials. Results suggest that individual differences in neural processing efficiency contributes to the execution of effortfully controlled behavior and avoidance of aggression.

Impact of early institutionalization on attention mechanisms underlying the inhibition of a planned action.

Institutional rearing is associated with deficits in executive functions, such as inhibitory control, and may contribute to later externalizing behavior problems. In the current study, we explored the impact of institutional rearing on attention in the context of inhibiting a planned action. As part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), children were randomized to either remain in the institutions in which they lived (Care as Usual Group) or be placed into foster family homes (Foster Care Group). We also recruited age and gender matched never-institutionalized (NIG) children from the Bucharest community. We examined differences in behavioral and Event Related Potentials (ERPs) during a go-no-go task when children were 12 years old. Results revealed that the ever-institutionalized group (CAUG and FCG combined) showed slower reaction times, worse performance accuracy, larger P2 activation, and smaller (less negative) N2 activation than the NIG group. Results of a moderation analysis revealed that children who spent more time in institutions and had small N2s showed more externalizing symptoms. These results have implications for the design of treatment approaches for previously institutionalized children with externalizing behavior problems.

The roles of selective attention and desensitization in the association between video gameplay and aggression: An ERP investigation.

A number of studies have indicated that violent video gameplay is associated with higher levels of aggression and that desensitization and selective attention to violent content may contribute to this association. Utilizing an emotionally-charged rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, the current study used two event-related potentials (ERPs) - the N1 and P3 - that have been associated with selective attention and desensitization as neurocognitive mechanisms potentially underlying the connection between gameplay and higher levels of aggression. Results indicated that video game players and non-players differed in N1 and P3 activation when engaged with emotionally-charged imagery. Additionally, P3 amplitudes moderated the association between video gameplay and aggression, indicating that players who display small P3 amplitudes also showed heightened levels of aggression. Follow-up moderational analyses revealed that individuals who play games for many hours and show more negative N1 amplitudes show smaller P3 activation. Together, our results suggest that selective attention to violent content and desensitization both play key roles in the association between video gameplay and aggression.

ADHD Symptoms in Post-Institutionalized Children Are Partially Mediated by Altered Frontal EEG Asymmetry.

Individual differences in the propensity for left versus right frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry may underlie differences in approach/withdrawal tendencies and mental health deficits. Growing evidence suggests that early life adversity may shape brain development and contribute to the emergence of mental health problems. The present study examined frontal EEG asymmetry (FEA) following the transition to family care in children adopted internationally from institutional care settings between 15 and 36 months of age (N = 82; 46 female, 36 male). Two comparison groups were included: an international adoption control consisting of children adopted from foster care with little to no institutional deprivation (N = 45; 17 female, 28 male) and a post-adoption condition control consisting of children reared in birth families of the same education and income as the adoptive families (N = 48; 23 female, 25 male). Consistent with evidence of greater approach and impulsivity-related behavior problems in post-institutionalized (PI) children, PI status was associated with greater left FEA than found in the other two groups. In addition, left FEA served as a mediator between institutionalization and age 5 ADHD symptoms for girls. Age at adoption and other preadoption factors were examined with results suggesting that earlier adoption into a supportive family resulted in a more typical pattern of brain functioning. Findings support the idea that the capacity of brain activity to evidence typical functioning following perturbation may differ in relation to the timing of intervention and suggest that the earlier the intervention of adoption, the better.

Sounds elicit relative left frontal alpha activity in 2-month-old infants.

As one kind of sounds, human voices are important for language acquisition and human-infant relations. Human voices have positive effects on infants, e.g., soothe infants and evoke an infant's smile. Increased left relative to right frontal alpha activity as assessed by the electroencephalogram (EEG) is considered to reflect approach-related emotions. In the present study, we recorded the EEG in thirty-eight 2-month-old infants during a baseline period while listening to sounds, i.e., human voices. Infants displayed increased relative left frontal alpha activity in response to sounds compared to the baseline condition. These results suggest that sounds can elicit relative left frontal activity in young infants, and that this approach-related emotion presents early in life.

Cognitive control moderates early childhood temperament in predicting social behavior in 7-year-old children: an ERP study.

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament associated with heightened vigilance and fear of novelty in early childhood, and social reticence and increased risk for anxiety problems later in development. However, not all behaviorally inhibited children develop signs of anxiety. One mechanism that might contribute to the variability in developmental trajectories is the recruitment of cognitive-control resources. The current study measured N2 activation, an ERP (event-related potential) associated with cognitive control, and modeled source-space activation (LORETA; Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography) at 7 years of age while children performed a go/no-go task. Activation was estimated for the entire cortex and then exported for four regions of interest: ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal ACC), and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). BI was measured in early childhood (ages 2 and 3 years). Anxiety problems and social reticence were measured at 7 years of age to ascertain stability of temperamental style. Results revealed that BI was associated with increased performance accuracy, longer reaction times, greater (more negative) N2 activation, and higher estimated dorsal ACC and DLPFC activation. Furthermore, early BI was only associated with social reticence at age 7 at higher (more negative) levels of N2 activation or higher estimated dorsal ACC or DLPFC activation. Results are discussed in the context of overcontrolled behavior contributing to social reticence and signs of anxiety in middle childhood.

Early behavioral inhibition and increased error monitoring predict later social phobia symptoms in childhood.

OBJECTIVE: Behavioral inhibition (BI) is an early childhood temperament characterized by fearful responses to novelty and avoidance of social interactions. During adolescence, a subset of children with stable childhood BI develop social anxiety disorder and concurrently exhibit increased error monitoring. The current study examines whether increased error monitoring in 7-year-old, behaviorally inhibited children prospectively predicts risk for symptoms of social phobia at age 9 years. METHOD: A total of 291 children were characterized on BI at 24 and 36 months of age. Children were seen again at 7 years of age, when they performed a Flanker task, and event-related potential (ERP) indices of response monitoring were generated. At age 9, self- and maternal-report of social phobia symptoms were obtained. RESULTS: Children high in BI, compared to those low in BI, displayed increased error monitoring at age 7, as indexed by larger (i.e., more negative) error-related negativity (ERN) amplitudes. In addition, early BI was related to later childhood social phobia symptoms at age 9 among children with a large difference in amplitude between ERN and correct-response negativity (CRN) at age 7. CONCLUSIONS: Heightened error monitoring predicts risk for later social phobia symptoms in children with high BI. Research assessing response monitoring in children with BI may refine our understanding of the mechanisms underlying risk for later anxiety disorders and inform prevention efforts.

Cognitive conflict links behavioral inhibition and social problem solving during social exclusion in childhood.

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characterized by heightened negative affect and social reticence to unfamiliar peers. In a longitudinal study, 291 infants were assessed for BI at 24 and 36 months of age. At age 7, N2 amplitude was measured during a Flanker task. Also at age 7, children experienced social exclusion in the lab during an interaction with an unfamiliar peer and an experimenter. Our findings indicate that children characterized as high in BI, relative to those low in BI, had larger (i.e., more negative) N2 amplitudes. Additionally, among children with a large N2, BI was positively related to withdrawal and negatively related to assertiveness during social exclusion. These findings suggest that variations in conflict detection among behaviorally inhibited children plays a role in their social behavior during stressful social situations.

Emotion regulation in children with behavior problems: linking behavioral and brain processes.

Past studies have shown that aggressive children exhibit rigid (rather than flexible) parent-child interactions; these rigid repertoires may provide the context through which children fail to acquire emotion-regulation skills. Difficulties in regulating emotion are associated with minimal activity in dorsal systems in the cerebral cortex, for example, the anterior cingulate cortex. The current study aimed to integrate parent-child and neurocognitive indices of emotion regulation and examine their associations for the first time. Sixty children (8-12 years old) referred for treatment for aggression underwent two assessments. Brain processes related to emotion regulation were assessed using dense-array EEG with a computerized go/no-go task. The N2 amplitudes thought to tap inhibitory control were recorded, and a source analysis was conducted. In the second assessment, parents and children were videotaped while trying to solve a conflict topic. State space grids were used to derive two dynamic flexibility parameters from the coded videotapes: (a) the number of transitions between emotional states and (b) the dispersion of emotional states, based on proportional durations in each state. The regression results showed that flexibility measures were not related to N2 amplitudes. However, flexibility measures were significantly associated with the ratio of dorsal to ventral source activation: for transitions, ΔR 2 = .27, F (1, 34) = 13.13, p = .001; for dispersion, ΔR 2 = .29, F (1, 35) = 14.76, p < .001. Thus, in support of our main hypothesis, greater dyadic flexibility was associated with a higher ratio of dorsomedial to ventral activation, suggesting that children with more flexible parent-child interactions are able to recruit relatively more dorsomedial activity in challenging situations.

Neural activation underlying cognitive control in the context of neutral and affectively charged pictures in children.

The neural correlates of cognitive control for typically developing 9-year-old children were examined using dense-array ERPs and estimates of cortical activation (LORETA) during a go/no-go task with two conditions: a neutral picture condition and an affectively charged picture condition. Activation was estimated for the entire cortex after which data were exported for four regions of interests (ROIs): ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (OFC/VMPFC). Results revealed faster reaction times, greater N2 activation, and greater prefrontal activation for the affectively charged picture condition than the neutral picture condition. The findings are discussed in reference to the impact of affective stimuli on recruitment of specific brain regions involved in cognitive control.

Magnitude and chronometry of neural mechanisms of emotion regulation in subtypes of aggressive children.

Emotion regulation is a key social skill and children who fail to master it are at risk for clinical disorders. Specific styles of emotion regulation have been associated with particular patterns of prefrontal activation. We investigated whether anxious aggressive children would reveal a different pattern of cortical activation than non-anxious aggressive children and normally-developing children. We examined the magnitude and timing of source activation underlying the N2-an ERP associated with inhibitory control-during a go/nogo task with a negative emotion induction component (loss of earned points). We estimated cortical activation for two regions of interest-a ventral prefrontal and a dorsomedial prefrontal region-for three 100-ms windows over the range of the N2 (200-500 ms). Anxious aggressive children showed high ventral prefrontal activation in the early window; non-anxious aggressive children showed high ventral prefrontal activation in the late window, but only for the duration of the emotion induction; and normally-developing children showed low ventral prefrontal activation throughout. There were no group differences in dorsomedial prefrontal activation. These results suggest that anxious aggressive children recruit ventral prefrontal activation quickly and indiscriminately, possibly giving rise to their rigid, threat-oriented approach to conflict. The late ventral prefrontal activation seen for non-anxious aggressive children may underlie a more delayed, situation-specific, but ineffective response to frustration.

Neural changes associated with treatment outcome in children with externalizing problems.

BACKGROUND: The current study directly investigated whether changes in the neural correlates of self-regulation (SR) are associated with the effectiveness of treatment for the externalizing problems of children. METHODS: Seventy-one children 8-12 years of age with clinical levels of externalizing behavior and their families completed a 3-month cognitive behavioral therapy program with a parent management training component. Electroencephalogram correlates of SR were evaluated before and after treatment with a go/no-go task requiring inhibitory control. RESULTS: Results showed that neural markers of SR, such as the N2 and frontal P3 event-related potential magnitudes, differed between the clinical sample and a matched comparison group before treatment: the clinical sample had larger N2 magnitudes and smaller frontal P3 magnitudes. Children who improved with treatment demonstrated a marked decrease in the magnitude of the N2 in comparison with children who did not improve. For improvers only, source analyses during the time period of the N2 estimated activation decreases in medial and ventral prefrontal cortex as well as the anterior medial temporal lobe. CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in N2 magnitudes and corresponding source activation in children who improved with treatment might reflect improved efficiency in the neural mechanisms of SR.

Development of hot and cool executive function during the transition to adolescence.

This study examined the development of executive function (EF) in a typically developing sample from middle childhood to adolescence using a range of tasks varying in affective significance. A total of 102 participants between 8 and 15years of age completed the Iowa Gambling Task, the Color Word Stroop, a Delay Discounting task, and a Digit Span task. Age-related improvements were found on all tasks, but improvements on relatively cool tasks (Color Word Stroop and Backward Digit Span) occurred earlier in this age range, whereas improvements on relatively hot tasks (Iowa Gambling Task and Delay Discounting) were more gradual and occurred later. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that performance on all tasks could be accounted for by a single-factor model. Together, these findings indicate that although similar abilities may underlie both hot and cool EF, hot EF develops relatively slowly, which may have implications for the risky behavior often observed during adolescence. Future work should include additional measures to characterize more intensively the development of both hot and cool EF during the transition to adolescence.