Relative Alpha Power in Infancy Predicts Executive Function Development in Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Biological Processes: Neuroscience and Genetics

Abstract

The relations between prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity and executive function (EF) have been well established with both adults and children. However, most of this research has focused on how event-related PFC activity predicts EF performance. Far less research considers how resting state PFC activity recorded in infancy might predict later EF performance. One metric that reflects PFC activity is alpha power (6-9Hz) derived from electroencephalography (EEG). Some studies have examined infant RS alpha power, but the results are inconsistent. For example, Broomell and colleagues (2019) found that more frontal alpha power in infancy was correlated with better EF performance at 4 years old, while Kraybill and Bell (2013) found the opposite. Furthermore, no studies have looked at how infant resting state alpha power is related to the developmental changes in EF across childhood. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the relation between resting state alpha power in infancy and developmental changes in EF, specifically inhibitory control (IC), across childhood (5 to 10 years).
The current study consisted of 157 participants (67 male) that were originally selected to be part of a longitudinal sample based on their temperament at 4 months old. Resting state EEG was collected at 9 months with a 16-channel EEG system and a Go/No-go task was completed at 5, 7, and 10 years old. Because accuracy on this task conflates IC with response strategy, we employed a signal-detection theoretic approach and computed d’ to isolate IC. We used latent growth curve analysis to estimate linear slopes of IC (d’) across childhood. As expected, IC (d’) increased with age, t=52.297, p<0.001. A linear regression showed that 9-month relative 6-9Hz alpha power at frontocentral electrode sites was a significant predictor of d’ slope, t=3.138, p=0.021, but not d’ intercept, t=1.617, p=0.109 – such that greater 6-9Hz alpha power predicted greater increases in IC, as indexed by a larger d’ slope. Furthermore, this effect held when controlling for gender, maternal education and ethnicity, temperament, d’ intercept, and aperiodic neural activity. Moreover, to further examine the robustness and specificity of this association, a linear mixed effects model predicting relative resting state power revealed the expected three-way interaction between d’ slope, electrode site, and power band (delta, theta, 6-9Hz alpha, 10-13Hz alpha, or beta). Probing the three-way interaction suggested that the positive relation between d’ slope and resting state power existed only for 6-9Hz alpha at frontocentral electrode sites. As such, it appears that in this data set infant relative 6-9Hz alpha power at frontal electrode sites predicted the development of IC in childhood. These results suggest that resting state PFC activity in infancy may play a role in later IC development. One possible explanation is that greater PFC activity in infancy reflects greater cortical maturity (Bell and Fox, 1992), which might allow for greater IC development in childhood. Because EEG activity recorded over the frontal region may emanate from anywhere in the cortex, future studies should conduct analyses that improve the spatial specificity of these signals (e.g., source modeling).

Authors

• Stephanie Christina Leach, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Maureen Bowers, University of Maryland - College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Santiago Morales, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• George A Buzzell, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ranjan Debnath, University of Maryland, College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Heather Henderson, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nathan A Fox, University of Maryland - College Park
  Non-Presenting Author