Tiny brains, Major insights; A go, no go inhibitory task with minions predicts risk status in toddlers with and without a familial history of ADHD

The neural mechanisms supporting inhibitory control in toddlers remain poorly understood, particularly regarding how early cortical development shapes behavior. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers a promising approach for addressing this “Toddler Data Desert” by capturing cortical activation during executive tasks. In this study, 196 children aged 2–5 years, with and without ADHD risk, completed a Minion go/no-go task while fNIRS measured bilateral frontal–temporal and parietal activity. Subject- and group-level analyses revealed that at-risk children showed stronger recruitment of bilateral frontal cortex and greater frontal–parietal integration than typically developing peers, suggesting increased reliance on these networks for inhibitory control. These findings underscore the importance of early identification of neural markers of cognitive control difficulties and support the use of go/no-go paradigms in early neurocognitive screening. Replication with multimodal methods and increased task difficulty for older toddlers is needed, as neural activation was low across groups during both high- and low-frequency trials.