Contextual Transparency Supports Cognitive Control by Reducing Prefrontal Activation and Enhancing Cue Prioritization in Children.

As children grow older, they engage cognitive control (i.e., goal-directed regulation of attention and actions) with increasing flexibility in response to contextual demands, which stems in part from more efficient processing of contextual cues. The present study investigated the neurocognitive mechanisms through which contextual cue transparency (i.e., the clarity or intuitiveness of task cues) benefits children's performance. Five- to 10-year-old children completed a cued task-switching paradigm in which they switched between color- and shape-matching rules as a function of either transparent or arbitrary task cues, while fNIRS or eye-tracking data were recorded. Relative to arbitrary cues, transparent cues led to improved behavioral performance, reduced lateral prefrontal activation, and a higher frequency of efficient gaze patterns (i.e., fixating the cue before the target). Furthermore, distinct patterns of prefrontal activation were associated with cue transparency and switching demands. Thus, greater cue transparency reduced the neurocognitive resources needed to identify goals and facilitated cue prioritization, but they did not appear to enhance attentional shifting. SUMMARY: Greater contextual cue transparency was associated with more efficient behavior and lower prefrontal activation in 5- to 10-year-olds. Children prioritized visual processing of contextual cues more when cues were transparent than arbitrary. Cue transparency and switching demands did not interact and were associated with distinct prefrontal activation patterns. Cue transparency benefits children's cognitive control through prefrontal cortex engagement reduction and greater cue prioritization, but does not support attentional shifting.