Schedule of Events | Search Abstracts | Invited Symposia | Symposia | Poster Sessions | Data Blitz

Neighbourhood disadvantage and neural correlates of inhibitory control in early adolescence

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Lisa Brooks¹ (), Jaron Tan¹, Pan Liu¹; ¹University of Alberta

Neighbourhood plays a crucial role in shaping children’s cognitive and emotional development. However, few studies have examined how the neighbourhood is associated with the developing brain, especially the brain substrates of self-regulation. Inhibitory control (IC), the ability to suppress a dominant response in favour of a goal-directed one, is an important aspect of self-regulation and a strong predictor of a host of developmental outcomes. IC can be measured through the Go/No-Go task, where participants must quickly respond to the “go” trials but inhibit responses to the “no-go” trials. When combined with event-related potentials (ERPs), “no-go” trials elicit a larger P3 component than “go” trials, a neural marker of IC. This study examined how neighbourhood quality, indexed by the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), relates to the neural substrates of IC in typically developing youth. We recruited 115 children aged 9 to 12 years (M = 10.91, SD = 1.45) from a midwestern U.S. city. Participants completed an EEG version of a Go/No-Go task. Neighbourhood quality was determined from census tract data based on participants’ home addresses. Higher ADI (indicating greater disadvantage) was associated with a larger No-Go P3 amplitude but not with behavioural performance. In other words, while children across neighbourhoods performed similarly, those from more disadvantaged areas appeared to recruit greater neural resources to achieve comparable behavioural outcomes. These findings highlight how neighbourhood conditions shape neurocognitive development and suggest that policies and community programs reducing environmental stressors may help support self-regulation and adaptive functioning in youth.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Monitoring & inhibitory control