Auditory attention enables the selection of behaviorally relevant sounds in dynamic environments, supporting the flexible allocation of neural resources over time. Although neural entrainment has been proposed as a mechanism for temporal prediction in audition, human studies have largely emphasized changes in response strength, leaving unresolved whether attention reorganizes the temporal alignment of entrained activity across hierarchical cortical networks. Here, we introduce the Selective Temporal Alignment of Components (STAC) framework to dissociate stimulus-driven and attention-controlled dynamics using non-invasive EEG. In a series of experiments across two independent adolescent cohorts (n = 79), Reliable Components Analysis (RCA) revealed two dissociable entrained networks with distinct spatial, functional, and attentional profiles: a sensory-driven network that remained tightly stimulus-locked and a frontal-auditory network that exhibited systematic attention-dependent phase shifts. These phase dynamics were consistent across independent cohorts and stable within individuals, and critically, predicted performance on a standardized neuropsychological measure of auditory attention. Together, these findings establish selective temporal alignment as a robust and behaviorally relevant neural mechanism underlying auditory attentional control.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM (ABCD) Study was funded to investigate adolescent development across 10 + years, assessing multilevel social contexts of influence and adolescent health outcomes. As such, the ABCD study has generated a large body of literature investigating adolescent health outcomes in neurocognition, mental health, physical health and substance use. However, the extent to which family, peer, and community contexts are measured and integrated across these outcomes has not been systematically examined. We synthesized 64 articles, deemed to be of high impact using a variety of metrics, to determine the extent to which measures within the Family, Friends, and Community (FFC) domains, across multi-level contexts of identity and values, family, and peers and community were investigated in relation to adolescent health outcomes. FFC measures were most frequently examined in relation to neuroimaging and neurocognitive outcomes, as well as mental health outcomes, with substantially fewer studies incorporating FFC measures for physical health and substance use outcomes, identifying FFC measures as both risk and protective factors. The ABCD study literature to date underscores the central role of FFC measures in contextualizing neurocognitive development as well as other health outcomes during adolescence, primarily with cross-sectional data. Building on existing use of FFC measures in neuroimaging and neurocognitive studies, future research can leverage longitudinal ABCD data to better understand how proximal social contexts shape neurocognitive development across adolescence.

Coarse measures of socioeconomic status, such as parental income or parental education, have been linked to differences in white matter development. However, these measures do not provide insight into specific aspects of an individual’s environment and how they relate to brain development. On the other hand, educational intervention studies have shown that changes in an individual’s educational context can drive measurable changes in their white matter. These studies, however, rarely consider socioeconomic factors in their results. In the present study, we examined the unique relationship between educational opportunity and white matter development, when controlling other known socioeconomic factors. To explore this question, we leveraged the rich demographic and neuroimaging data available in the ABCD study, as well the unique data-crosswalk between ABCD and the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA). We find that educational opportunity is related to accelerated white matter development, even when accounting for other socioeconomic factors, and that this relationship is most pronounced in white matter tracts associated with academic skills. These results suggest that the school a child attends has a measurable relationship with brain development for years to come.

Cross-sectional studies have linked differences in white matter tissue properties to reading skills. However, past studies have reported a range of, sometimes conflicting, results. Some studies suggest that white matter properties act as individual-level traits predictive of reading skill, whereas others suggest that reading skill and white matter develop as a function of an individual’s educational experience. In the present study, we tested two hypotheses: a) that diffusion properties of the white matter reflect stable brain characteristics that relate to stable individual differences in reading ability or b) that white matter is a dynamic system, linked with learning over time. To answer these questions, we examined the relationship between white matter and reading in a five-year longitudinal dataset and a series of large-scale, single-observation, cross-sectional datasets (N = 14,249 total participants). We find that gains in reading skill correspond to longitudinal changes in the white matter. However, in the cross-sectional datasets, we find no evidence for the hypothesis that individual differences in white matter predict reading skill. These findings highlight the link between dynamic processes in the white matter and learning.

Mathematical knowledge is essential to function properly in our modern society. It is therefore crucial for teachers and clinicians to be able to assess learners’ mathematical abilities with validity, reliability, and speed. Here we describe a new tablet-based assessment app designed to measure math fluency, the Stanford Mental Arithmetic Response Time Evaluation (SMARTE) tool. SMARTE consists of three 2-minutes tasks (non-symbolic dot enumeration, math fluency, and math recall). We analyzed data from 6,855 participants (3,262 female, mean age: 12.97 years) who completed SMARTE in year 3 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM study. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, 2,682 participants were tested online while 1,159 participants were tested in person as the original protocol called for. Our analyses revealed that the SMARTE score and sub-scores highly correlated with each other. Overall fluency metrics revealed more problems per unit time were completed in the laboratory setting, yet a host of experimental contrasts that manipulated the cognitive demands across problem types produced equivalent effects across both settings, suggesting these effects are quite robust across variations in study setting.

Coarse measures of socioeconomic status, such as parental income or parental education, have been linked to differences in white matter development. However, these measures do not provide insight into specific aspects of an individual’s environment and how they relate to brain development. On the other hand, educational intervention studies have shown that changes in an individual’s educational context can drive measurable changes in their white matter. These studies, however, rarely consider socioeconomic factors in their results. In the present study, we examined the unique relationship between educational opportunity and white matter development, when controlling other known socioeconomic factors. To explore this question, we leveraged the rich demographic and neuroimaging data available in the ABCD study, as well the unique data-crosswalk between ABCD and the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA). We find that educational opportunity is related to accelerated white matter development, even when accounting for other socioeconomic factors, and that this relationship is most pronounced in white matter tracts associated with academic skills. These results suggest that the school a child attends has a measurable relationship with brain development for years to come.

This study aims to investigate the impact of vocabulary acquisition through short-term classroom learning and its relation to broader forms of vocabulary learning through long-term exposure in daily life. Through a two week of “learning sprint” in collaboration with a local elementary school and EEG-Steady State Visual Evoked Potentials (EEG-SSVEP) paradigm, we assessed new vocabulary learning in first and second graders within their pedagogical environment. We then compared the results with the word frequency effect, a well-established phenonmenon that reflects long-term vocabulary learning. After two weeks of classroom instruction, newly acquired words elicited neural responses similar to those of high-frequency words, with the effect significantly correlated with children’s phonological decoding skills. Additionally, we successfully replicated the word frequency effect using the SSVEP paradigm for the first time. These findings highlight the potential of the “learning sprint” model for conducting neuroscience research in authentic educational settings, thereby fostering a stronger connection between education and neuroscience. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Advances in the field of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) have been limited by a fundamental separation between university-based neuroscience laboratories and school communities, constraining the field’s ability to collaboratively devise research studies germane to child development. This commentary explores the assertion that the persistent obstacles in MBE work may stem from how we structure these partnerships. We examine this premise through a detailed case study of a research-practice partnership that has successfully implemented a range of innovative programmatic elements, including the establishment of specially-trained liaisons, situating a neuroscience lab within a school, and actively involving practitioners and students in research. An analysis of the values that iteratively emerged from this approach may encourage other MBE stakeholders to consider affordances of this model when embarking upon future partnership endeavors.

Introduction Executive functions (EFs) are linked to positive outcomes across the lifespan. Yet, methodological challenges have prevented precise understanding of the developmental trajectory of their organization. Methods We introduce novel methods to address challenges for both measuring and modeling EFs using an accelerated longitudinal design with a large, diverse sample of students in middle childhood ( N = 1,286; ages 8 to 14). We used eight adaptive assessments hypothesized to measure three EFs, working memory, context monitoring, and interference resolution. We deployed adaptive assessments to equate EF challenge across ages and a data-driven, network analytic approach to reveal the evolving diversity of EFs while simultaneously accounting for their unity. Results and discussion Using this methodological paradigm shift brought new precision and clarity to the development of these EFs, showing these eight tasks are organized into three stable components by age 10, but refinement of composition of these components continues through at least age 14.

EDITORIAL article Front. Neurosci., 16 June 2023Sec. Neurodevelopment Volume 17 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1147156

IntroductionThe ability to reason about equations in a robust and fluent way requires both instrumental knowledge of symbolic forms, syntax, and operations, as well as relational knowledge of how such formalisms map to meaningful relationships captured within mental models. A recent systematic review of studies contrasting the Cuisenaire-Gattegno (Cui) curriculum approach vs. traditional rote schooling on equational reasoning has demonstrated the positive efficacy of pedagogies that focus on integrating these two forms of knowledge.MethodsHere we seek to replicate and extend the most efficacious of these studies (Brownell) by implementing the curriculum to a high degree of fidelity, as well as capturing longitudinal changes within learners via a novel tablet-based assessment of accuracy and fluency with equational reasoning. We examined arithmetic fluency as a function of relational reasoning to equate initial performance across diverse groups and to track changes over four growth assessment points.ResultsResults showed that the intervention condition that stressed relational reasoning leads to advances in fluency for addition and subtraction with small numbers. We also showed that this intervention leads to changes in problem solving dispositions toward complex challenges, wherein students in the CUI intervention were more inclined to solve challenging problems relative to those in the control who gave up significantly earlier on multi-step problems. This shift in disposition was associated with higher accuracy on complex equational reasoning problems. A treatment by aptitude interaction emerged for both arithmetic equation reasoning and complex multi-step equational reasoning problems, both of which showed that the intervention had greatest impact for children with lower initial mathematical aptitude. Two years of intervention contrast revealed a large effect (d = 1) for improvements in equational reasoning for the experimental (CUI) group relative to control.DiscussionThe strong replication and extension findings substantiate the importance of embedding these teaching aides within the theory grounded curricula that gave rise to them.

Learning to read depends on the ability to extract precise details of letter combinations, which convey critical information that distinguishes tens of thousands of visual word forms. To support fluent reading skill, one crucial neural developmental process is one’s brain sensitivity to statistical constraints inherent in combining letters into visual word forms. To test this idea in early readers, we tracked the impact of two years of schooling on within-subject longitudinal changes in cortical responses to different properties of words (coarse tuning for print, and fine tuning to visual word forms and whole word representations) and their growth in reading skill. Three stimulus contrasts—words versus pseudofonts, words versus pseudowords, pseudowords versus nonwords—were presented while high-density EEG Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs, n=31) were recorded. Internalization of abstract visual word form structures over two years of reading experience resulted in a near doubling of SSVEP amplitude, with increasing left lateralization. Longitudinal changes in brain responses to such word form structural information were linked to the growth in reading, especially in rapid automatic naming for letters. No such changes were observed for whole word representation processing and coarse tuning for print. Collectively, these findings indicate that sensitivity to visual word form structure develops rapidly through exposure to print and is linked to growth in reading skill. Research Highlights Longitudinal changes in cognitive responses to coarse print tuning, visual word from structure, and whole word representation were examined in early readers. Visual word form structure processing demonstrated striking patterns of growth with nearly doubled in EEG amplitude and increased left lateralization. Longitudinal changes in brain responses to visual word form structural information were linked to the growth in rapid automatic naming for letters. No longitudinal changes were observed for whole word representation processing and coarse tuning for print.

Understanding the cognitive processes central to mathematical development is crucial to addressing systemic inequities in math achievement. We investigate the "Groupitizing" ability in 1209 third to eighth graders (mean age at first timepoint = 10.48, 586 girls, 39.16% Asian, 28.88% Hispanic/Latino, 18.51% White), a process that captures the ability to use grouping cues to access the exact value of a set. Groupitizing improves each year from late childhood to early adolescence (d = 3.29), is a central predictor of math achievement (beta weight = .30), is linked to conceptual processes in mathematics (minimum d = 0.69), and helps explain the dynamic between the ongoing development of non-symbolic number concepts, systemic educational inequities in school associated with SES, and mathematics achievement (minimum beta weight = .11) in ways that explicit symbolic measures may miss.

Our study characterized associations between three indicators of COVID-19's community-level impact in 20 geographically diverse metropolitan regions and how worried youth and their caregivers in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ Study have been about COVID-19. County-level COVID-19 case/death rates and monthly unemployment rates were geocoded to participants' addresses. Caregivers' (vs. youths') COVID-19-related worry was more strongly associated with COVID-19's community impact, independent of sociodemographics and pre-pandemic anxiety levels, with these associations varying by location. Public-health agencies and healthcare providers should avoid adopting uniform "one-size-fits-all" approaches to addressing COVID-19-related emotional distress and must consider specific communities' needs, challenges, and strengths.

There are multiple levels of processing relevant to reading that vary in their visual, sublexical, and lexical orthographic processing demands. Segregating distinct cortical sources for each of these levels has been challenging in EEG studies of early readers. To address this challenge, we applied recent advances in analyzing high-density EEG using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) via data-driven Reliable Components Analysis (RCA) in a group of early readers spanning from kindergarten to second grade. Three controlled stimulus contrasts-familiar words versus unfamiliar pseudofonts, familiar words versus pseudowords, and pseudowords versus nonwords-were used to isolate coarse print tuning, lexical processing, and sublexical orthography-related processing, respectively. First, three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left vOT, dorsal parietal, and primary visual cortex were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Second, we segregated distinct cortical sources for the other two levels of processing: lexical fine tuning over occipito-temporal/parietal regions; sublexical orthographic fine tuning over left occipital regions. Finally, exploratory group analyses based on children's reading fluency suggested that coarse print tuning emerges early even in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level lexical processing emerge only in children with sufficient reading knowledge. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Cognitive processes underlying coarse print tuning, sublexical, and lexical fine tuning were examined in beginning readers. Three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left ventral occipito-temporal (vOT), left temporo-parietal, and primary visual cortex-were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Responses to sublexical orthographic fine tuning were found over left occipital regions, while responses to higher-level linguistic fine tuning were found over occipito-temporal/parietal regions. Exploratory group analyses suggested that coarse print tuning emerges in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level linguistic fine tuning effects emerge in children with sufficient reading knowledge.

The Cuisenaire–Gattegno (Cui) approach to early mathematics uses color coded rods of unit increment lengths embedded in a systematic curriculum designed to guide learners as young as age five from exploration of integers and ratio through to formal algebraic writing. The effectiveness of this approach has been the subject of hundreds of investigations supporting positive results, yet with substantial variability in the nature of results across studies. Based on an historical analysis of one of the highest-fidelity studies (Brownell), which estimated a treatment effect on equation reasoning with an effect size of 1.66, we propose that such variability may be related to different emphases on the use of the manipulatives or on the curriculum from which they came. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of Cui that sought to trace back to the earliest investigations of its efficacy. Results revealed the physical manipulatives component of the original approach (Cuisenaire Rods) have had greater adoption than efforts to retain or adopt curriculum elements from the Cuisenaire–Gattegno approach. To examine the impact of this, we extended the meta-analysis to index the degree to which each study of Cuisenaire Rods included efforts to align or incorporate curricular elements, practices, or goals with the original curriculum. Curriculum design fidelity captured a significant portion of the variability of efficacy results in the meta-analysis.

The speed-accuracy tradeoff suggests that responses generated under time constraints will be less accurate. While it has undergone extensive experimental verification, it is less clear whether it applies in settings where time pressures are not being experimentally manipulated (but where respondents still vary in their utilization of time). Using a large corpus of 29 response time datasets containing data from cognitive tasks without experimental manipulation of time pressure, we probe whether the speed-accuracy tradeoff holds across a variety of tasks using idiosyncratic within-person variation in speed. We find inconsistent relationships between marginal increases in time spent responding and accuracy; in many cases, marginal increases in time do not predict increases in accuracy. However, we do observe time pressures (in the form of time limits) to consistently reduce accuracy and for rapid responses to typically show the anticipated relationship (i.e., they are more accurate if they are slower). We also consider analysis of items and individuals. We find substantial variation in the item-level associations between speed and accuracy. On the person side, respondents who exhibit more within-person variation in response speed are typically of lower ability. Finally, we consider the predictive power of a person's response time in predicting out-of-sample responses; it is generally a weak predictor. Collectively, our findings suggest the speed-accuracy tradeoff may be limited as a conceptual model in its application in non-experimental settings and, more generally, offer empirical results and an analytic approach that will be useful as more response time data is collected.

Format changes in U.S. schooling in response to the COVID-19 pandemic varied by month and by school district, ranging from exclusively home-based to full in-person learning. The impact of these changes on adolescent schooling experiences, and the factors that mitigate such impact, have been challenging to quantify. To address these challenges we employed bi-monthly repeated surveys of youths (N = 6, 546, aged 13–14 years) in a longitudinal study, starting before the pandemic peak (October 2020) and continuing through one year after the pandemic was declared (March 2021). We investigated how school format (in-person vs. remote) impacted objective time spent on academic activities and the subjective experience of school, and how these were influenced by parental engagement. Periods of exclusive at-home remote schooling were pervasive—reported by more than 60% of youths—and linked to a reduction in school enjoyment and time spent on reading, math, and science. In contrast, such periods were linked to more time with parents or guardians helping with school activities, and the frequency of such parental involvement was associated with reductions in negative feelings about school. Results point to potential pathways to mitigate the negative consequences of future school disruptions.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tested the hypothesis that cinematic structure shapes variation in social-cognitive brain activity. Using our film, we completed an exploratory analysis of how activations in the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ), and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) are shaped by variations in insert shots (e.g., shots showing objects that a character has looked at), and by character entrances and exits. We found that IPS and TPJ consistently responded to insert shots, and the correlation between TPJ and IPS responses significantly predicted the prevalence of belief inferences during the sequence. In addition, TPJ responded significantly to entrances and exits of characters. We also completed a qualitative analysis of moments during a sequence that induced relative peaks in TPJ and IPS responding. These analyses not only demonstrate that consistent brain responses can distinguish among meaningful variations in cinematic events but also that these analyses confirm and refine our understanding of the apparent specializations for visual attention and domain-specific event processing in parietal attention networks.

Purpose: Adolescence is characterized by dramatic physical, social, and emotional changes, making teens particularly vulnerable to the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This longitudinal study identifies young adolescents who are most vulnerable to the psychological toll of the pandemic and provides insights to inform strategies to help adolescents cope better in times of crisis. Methods: A data-driven approach was applied to a longitudinal, demographically diverse cohort of more than 3,000 young adolescents (11-14 years) participating in the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study in the United States, including multiple prepandemic visits and three assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic (May-August 2020). We fitted machine learning models and provided a comprehensive list of predictors of psychological distress in individuals. Results: Positive affect, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were accurately detected with our classifiers. Female sex and prepandemic internalizing symptoms and sleep problems were strong predictors of psychological distress. Parent-and youth-reported pandemic-related psychosocial factors, including poorer quality and functioning of family relationships, more screen time, and witnessing discrimination in relation to the pandemic further predicted youth distress. However, better social support, regular physical activities, coping strategies, and healthy behaviors predicted better emotional well-being. Discussion: Findings highlight the importance of social connectedness and healthy behaviors, such as sleep and physical activity, as buffering factors against the deleterious effects of the pandemic on adolescents' mental health. They also point to the need for greater attention toward coping strategies that help the most vulnerable adolescents, particularly girls and those with prepandemic psychological problems. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.