Dual tasks (DTs) require additional control processes that temporally coordinate the processing of the two component tasks. Previous studies employing imaging as well as noninvasive stimulation techniques have demonstrated that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is causally involved in these task-order coordination processes. However, in these studies, participants were instructed to match their processing order to an externally provided and mandatory order criterion during DT processing. Hence, it is still unknown whether the dlPFC is also recruited for rather voluntary order control processes, which are required in situations that allow for intentional and internally generated order choices. To address this issue, in two experiments, we applied anodal (Experiment 1) and cathodal (Experiment 2) transcranial direct current stimulation during a random-order DT in which participants could freely decide about their order of task processing. In our results, we found facilitatory and inhibitory effects on voluntary task-order coordination because of anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation, respectively. This was indicated by shorter RTs when participants intentionally switched the task order relative to the preceding trial during anodal as well as a reduced tendency to switch the task order relative to the preceding trial during cathodal stimulation compared with the sham stimulation. Overall, these findings indicate that the dlPFC is also causally involved in voluntary task-order coordination processes. In particular, we argue that the dlPFC is recruited for intentionally updating and implementing task-order information that is necessary for scheduling the processing of two temporally overlapping tasks.

External feedback provides essential information for successful learning. Feedback is especially important for learning in early childhood, as toddlers strongly rely on external signals to determine the consequences of their actions. In adults, many electrophysiological studies have elucidated feedback processes using a neural marker called the feedback-related negativity (FRN). The neural generator of the FRN is assumed to be the ACC, located in medial frontal cortex. As frontal brain regions are the latest to mature during brain development, it is unclear when in early childhood a functional feedback system develops. Is feedback differentiated on a neural level in toddlers and in how far is neural feedback processing related to children's behavioral adjustment? In an EEG experiment, we addressed these questions by measuring the brain activity and behavioral performance of 2.5-year-old toddlers while they played a feedback-guided game on a touchscreen. Electrophysiological results show differential brain activity for feedback with a more negative deflection for incorrect than correct outcomes, resembling the adult FRN. This provides the first neural evidence for feedback processing in toddlers. Notably, FRN amplitudes were predictive of adaptive behavior: the stronger the differential brain activity for feedback, the better the toddlers' adaptive performance during the game. Thus, already in early childhood toddlers' feedback-guided performance directly relates to the functionality of their neural feedback processing. Implications for early feedback-based learning as well as structural and functional brain development are discussed.