Experimental Psychology Deparment, University of Sevilla, Seville, Spain.
BMC Neurosci. 2012 Aug 24;13:104. doi: 10.1186/1471-2202-13-104.
The peri-adolescent period is a crucial developmental moment of transition from childhood to emergent adulthood. The present report analyses the differences in Power Spectrum (PS) of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) between late childhood (24 children between 8 and 13 years old) and young adulthood (24 young adults between 18 and 23 years old).
The narrow band analysis of the Electroencephalogram was computed in the frequency range of 0-20 Hz. The analysis of mean and variance suggested that six frequency ranges presented a different rate of maturation at these ages, namely: low delta, delta-theta, low alpha, high alpha, low beta and high beta. For most of these bands the maturation seems to occur later in anterior sites than posterior sites. Correlational analysis showed a lower pattern of correlation between different frequencies in children than in young adults, suggesting a certain asynchrony in the maturation of different rhythms. The topographical analysis revealed similar topographies of the different rhythms in children and young adults. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated the same internal structure for the Electroencephalogram of both age groups. Principal Component Analysis allowed to separate four subcomponents in the alpha range. All these subcomponents peaked at a lower frequency in children than in young adults.
The present approaches complement and solve some of the incertitudes when the classical brain broad rhythm analysis is applied. Children have a higher absolute power than young adults for frequency ranges between 0-20 Hz, the correlation of Power Spectrum (PS) with age and the variance age comparison showed that there are six ranges of frequencies that can distinguish the level of EEG maturation in children and adults. The establishment of maturational order of different frequencies and its possible maturational interdependence would require a complete series including all the different ages.
青春期是从儿童期向青年期过渡的关键发展时刻。本报告分析了儿童晚期（24 名 8 至 13 岁儿童）和青年期（24 名 18 至 23 岁青年）之间脑电图（EEG）的功率谱（PS）差异。
对脑电图进行了窄带分析，分析范围为 0-20 Hz。均值和方差分析表明，这两个年龄段有六个频段的成熟速度不同，分别为：低 delta、delta-theta、低 alpha、高 alpha、低 beta 和高 beta。对于大多数频段，成熟似乎在额部区域比后部区域发生得晚。相关分析表明，儿童不同频段之间的相关性模式低于青年成人，这表明不同节律的成熟存在一定的不同步性。拓扑分析显示，儿童和青年成人的不同节律具有相似的拓扑结构。主成分分析（PCA）表明，这两个年龄组的脑电图具有相同的内部结构。主成分分析允许在 alpha 范围内分离出四个子成分。所有这些子成分在儿童中都比在青年成人中峰值频率更低。
当应用经典脑宽频带节律分析时，本研究方法补充并解决了一些不确定性问题。儿童在 0-20 Hz 频段的绝对功率高于青年成人，PS 与年龄的相关性以及与年龄比较的方差表明，有六个频段可以区分儿童和成人的 EEG 成熟水平。不同频率的成熟顺序及其可能的成熟相互依赖性需要包括所有不同年龄的完整系列来建立。
