# Brain Activity during Infant Inhibitory Control

> **NIH NIH R21** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2020 · $191,707

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Our investigation is a developmental cognitive neuroscience examination of inhibitory control during infancy.
Using a cross-sectional research design, we will test whether neurophysiological levels of analysis distinguish
between two specific types of inhibitory control during infancy: attention inhibition and cognitive inhibition.
Infants will be seen either at 9 or at 12 months of age and will complete two inhibitory control tasks while brain
electrophysiology is recorded. We will use ERP components associated with inhibitory control, attention, and
memory to characterize the two types of inhibitory control processes. Importantly, we will identify ERP
components associated with inhibitory control during infancy, currently a major gap in the developmental
research literature and an innovation of our study. Our proposed study is critical for understanding early
cognitive development and we do so by contributing to the basic cognitive neuroscience work on inhibitory
control. We will address three research aims. 1) We will compare attentional and memory ERP components
on two types of inhibitory control tasks at 9 and 12 months of age. 2) We will determine and identify infant-
specific ERP components related to the inhibitory control. 3) We will examine age-related differences in
attention, memory, and inhibitory control ERP components.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9858388
- **Project number:** 5R21HD097942-02
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Martha Ann Bell
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,707
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9858388

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9858388, Brain Activity during Infant Inhibitory Control (5R21HD097942-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9858388. Licensed CC0.

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