Journal
CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 18, Issue 5, Pages 259-263Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01648.x
Keywords
cognitive control; developmental; frontal lobe; creativity
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Funding
- NIDCD NIH HHS [R01 DC009209-07, R01 DC009209] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [R01 MH067008-05, R01 MH070850, R01 MH067008, R01 MH070850-04] Funding Source: Medline
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The prefrontal cortex is crucial for the ability to regulate thought and control behavior. The development of the human cerebral cortex is characterized by an extended period of maturation during which young children exhibit marked deficits in cognitive control. We contend that prolonged prefrontal immaturity is, on balance, advantageous and that the positive consequences of this developmental trajectory outweigh the negative. Particularly, we argue that cognitive control impedes convention learning and that delayed prefrontal maturation is a necessary adaptation for human learning of social and linguistic conventions. We conclude with a discussion of recent observations that are relevant to this claim of evolutionary trade-offs in a wide range of research areas, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, creativity, and sleep.
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