Adolescents' performance on the Iowa gambling task: Implications for the development of decision making and ventromedial prefrontal cortex

and behavioral inhibition (go/no-go) tasks. Cross-sectional age-related changes were seen on all 3 tasks. Gender differences were seen in IGT deck preference and attentional variables (i.e., go/no-go hit rate and forward digit span). After age, gender, and general intellectual abilities were controlled for, IGT performance was not predicted by working memory or behavioral inhibition scores. Findings suggest that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex or its connections are functionally maturing during adolescence in a manner that can be distinguished from maturation of other prefrontal regions. Development of these functions may continue into young adulthood. Intact functioning of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to be necessary for many higher order cognitive functions, such as working memory, set shifting, behavioral inhibition, decision mak-ing, and cognitive control of behavior (e.g., Braver & Barch, 2002; Goldman-Rakic & Leung, 2002; Krawczyk, 2002). Many of these functions are deficient in young children but emerge in a gradual fashion from late infancy onward (Luciana, 2003). These behav-ioral developments may have a parallel in PFC maturation. Indeed, there is considerable evidence to suggest that the PFC continues to develop throughout adolescence and into early adulthood (Giedd e