The Role of Fronto-Parietal and Fronto-Striatal Networks in the Development of Working Memory: A Longitudinal Study
Abstract
The increase in working memory (WM) capacity is an important part of cognitive development during childhood and adolescence. Cross-sectional analyses have associated this development with higher activity, thinner cortex, and white matter maturation in fronto-parietal networks. However, there is still a lack of longitudinal data showing the dynamics of this development and the role of subcortical structures. We included 89 individuals, aged 6-25 years, who were scanned 1-3 times at 2-year intervals. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify activated areas in superior frontal, intraparietal cortices, and caudate nucleus during performance on a visuo-spatial WM task. Probabilistic tractography determined the anatomical pathways between these regions. In the cross-sectional analysis, WM capacity correlated with activity in frontal and parietal regions, cortical thickness in parietal cortex, and white matter structure [both fractional anisotropy (FA) and white matter volume] of fronto-parietal and fronto-striatal tracts. However, in the longitudinal analysis, FA in white matter tracts and activity in caudate predicted future WM capacity. The results show a dynamic of neural networks underlying WM development in which cortical activity and structure relate to current capacity, while white matter tracts and caudate activity predict future WM capacity.
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Existing studies also observed the involvement of the fronto-striatal circuit in working memory impairment and delay aversion in ADHD.
“Moreover, existing studies also observed the involvement of the fronto-striatal circuit in working memory impairment and delay aversion in ADHD (Castellanos et al., 2006; Vaidya and Stollstorff, 2008; Darki and Klingberg, 2015; Bollmann et al., 2017).”
From A Review of Heterogeneity in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (2019) · cites this paper as Darki and Klingberg, 2015
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The neuroscience of working memory capacity and training
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- Authors
- Darki, F., & Klingberg, T.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Darki, F.
- Venue
- Cerebral Cortex
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-01-09
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1587-1595
- ISSN
- 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2199
- OpenAlex
- W2144804183
- Cited by
- 212
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 27.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- working memory development, frontoparietal network, fronto-striatal network, caudate nucleus, white matter maturation, fractional anisotropy, cortical thickness, intraparietal cortex, superior frontal cortex, visuospatial working memory, probabilistic tractography, cognitive development, childhood and adolescence
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Corpus Striatum, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neural Pathways, Neuropsychological Tests, Oxygen, Parietal Lobe, Statistics as Topic, Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Young Adult
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