Asymmetries in Brain Maturation and Behavioral Disturbances: Multivariate Electroencephalogram and P300 Studies

Abstract

If behavior results from brain function, some evidence of dysfunction could be expected in children with major behavioral problems. Yet, neurophysiologic studies in these children are frequently normal. We hypothesized a relationship between maturational asymmetry and behavior, given the role of hemispheric imbalance in adult psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether age-sensitive neurophysiologic measures could identify behaviorally relevant maturational asymmetries in otherwise healthy children. Ninety-five children were studied; reasons for testing were behavioral (19), academic (12), medical nonneurologic (16), and mixed (28), along with 20 control subjects. Academic, behavioral (Child Behavioral Checklist), and psychometric (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised; WISC-R) measures were analyzed in relation to four neurophysiologic parameters: P300 Latency, P300 Latency Asymmetry, Maturational Z-score, and Maturational Z-score Asymmetry, within a canonical design. The highest correlation was behavior with Maturational Z-score Asymmetry. Academic scores were predicted by the three-variable interaction of P300 Latency,Maturational Z-score, and Maturational Z-score Asymmetry. We concluded that behavior was strongly influenced by maturational asymmetry, while academic performance depended on both global maturation and maturational asymmetry. Our results suggest that behavioral disturbances can have a neural substrate despite apparently normal electroencephalograms (EEGs) and event-related potentials (ERPs). They open the possibility for specific therapeutic interventions to improve behavior and performance, and, perhaps, prevent major psychopathology in later life.

Frontal P300 asymmetry and congruence judgment: Retroactive switching is impaired during school day mornings in female adolescents

“…Frontal EEG and ERP asymmetry (henceforth fP3As ) has been used specifically in relation to academic performance, but the findings are varied. In one study, frontal alpha EEG asymmetries were found to correlate with how students cope with examinations ( Papousek et al, 2019 ), and in another study it was found that P300 latency asymmetry was associated with behavioural disturbances (including academic performance-see Gerez et al, 1999 ). However, to emphasize the variability of results pertaining to asymmetry and cognitive ability, there are studies that reported asymmetry to be associated with specialized brain function, for example decision making ( Cunningham et al, 2005 ), while others found it unrelated to cognitive features at all ( Kutas et al, 1988 ).…”