Alpha-beta oscillatory dynamics underlying auditory inhibitory control in children

Response inhibition, the ability to withhold an unwanted response, is a fundamental component of cognitive control. While evoked responses in inhibitory tasks have been widely studied, induced oscillatory dynamics, particularly in the auditory modality and in children, remain largely unexplored. Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine induced alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-20 Hz) oscillations during passive listening and an auditory Go/Nogo task in 67 children (6-14 years) and 16 adults (20-30 years). During passive listening, both groups showed an early alpha power increase in right fronto-temporo-parietal regions, followed by an alpha decrease in temporal regions. Under inhibitory demands, adults displayed a late alpha and beta power increase within a left fronto-temporo-occipital network, whereas children exhibited an early-onset, prolonged beta power decrease in somatomotor and temporo-parietal regions. Our findings indicate that children and adults engage spectrally, temporally, and spatially different neural dynamics during inhibitory control: in children, oscillatory modulation emerges earlier and is dominated by a beta decrease in sensorimotor regions, whereas adults recruit synchronized late alpha-beta dynamics in executive networks, possibly reflecting more efficient and evaluative inhibitory processing.