EEG asymmetry, power, and temperament in children

Abstract

Measures of EEG spectral power, lateral asymmetry in the frontal and parietal areas, and social behavior with an examiner were analyzed on 166 children, 10 to 12 years old, who were participating in a longitudinal study of the temperamental contributions to social behavior. Loss of 8- to 13-Hz power (alpha band) on the right, compared with the left, frontal area (right frontal active) was most prevalent among children who were classified as high reactive at 4 months and were highly fearful at 14 and 21 months. Second, greater frontal power in the 14- to 30-Hz band (beta) at rest was correlated with the tendency to be right frontal active. Finally, spontaneous talkativeness with an unfamiliar examiner was associated with right frontal activation and high alpha power for boys, but with right frontal activation and high beta power for girls. Right frontal activation is most characteristic of children who begin life with a temperamental bias favoring high reactivity and who develop a fearful reaction to unfamiliar events in the second year of life.

Long-term stability of electroencephalographic asymmetry and power in 3 to 9 year-old children

“…Larger variability in EEG asymmetry of parietal sites than frontal sites, as shown in Table 2, is concordant with findings in 7 to 8 year-olds (Anokhin et al, 1996) and 10 year-olds (McManis et al, 2002). Posterior sites show about twice as much spread than frontal sites in 6 to 17 year-olds (Gasser et al, 1988b) and in healthy 11 year-olds (Baving et al, 2003).…”

“…As such, individuals displaying left frontal EEG asymmetry often exhibit approach motivation and positive affect while individuals displaying right EEG asymmetry have been found to exhibit withdrawal and negative affect. This proposition has received support in studies of child temperament and behavior (Shankman et al, 2003(Shankman et al, ,2005Baving et al, 2003;McManis et al, 2002;Fox, 1991;Davidson & Fox, 1989).…”

“…This is because brain activity is regarded as the inverse of alpha power (Shagass, 1972). The adult literature on EEG asymmetry during resting conditions suggests that the tendency to react with approach motivation (readiness to be engaged with the environment) and to experience positive affect are reflected by left EEG asymmetry, whereas a negative motivational bias (the tendency to withdraw) and to experience negative affect are captured by right EEG asymmetry (Shankman et al, 2003(Shankman et al, , 2005Baving et al, 2003;McManis et al, 2002;Tomarken and Keener, 1998;Sutton and Davidson, 1997;Fox, 1991;Davidson et al, 1990;Henriques and Davidson, 1990;Tomarken et al, 1990;Davidson & Fox, 1989;Davidson and Tomarken, 1989). Thus, these physiological indexes are believed to measure emotional and temperamental personality predispositions.…”

Safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary assessment of efficacy of mecasermin (recombinant human IGF-1) for the treatment of Rett syndrome

“…EEG recording, spectral power analysis, and frontal asymmetry scores were performed as reported (49)(50)(51) and detailed in SI Methods.…”

Recruitment of orbitofrontal cortex during unpredictable threat among adults at risk for affective disorders

“…This includes findings of hemispheric asymmetry in both structure and function of this region, such that reactive temperament in early childhood predicts right frontal activation as measured by EEG in adolescence (McManis, Kagan, Snidman, & Woodward, 2002) and greater right mOFC volume in adulthood (Schwartz et al, 2010), as well as that high risk for alcohol dependence predicts greater right mOFC among adolescents (Hill, Tessner, Wang, Carter, & McDermott, 2010).…”