School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Australia.
School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Australia.
Res Dev Disabil. 2024 Nov;154:104840. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104840. Epub 2024 Sep 16.
Previous research has characterised EEG changes associated with resting activation in primary school children and adults, while task-related activation has only been considered in adults. The current study characterises physiological activation in preschool children and examines the potential value of activation indices for predicting mental health status at two time points.
To investigate how resting activation and task-related activation are represented in 4- to 5-year-old preschool children and examine if these activation indices can predict current and future mental health status.
Frontal EEG was recorded from 81 preschool children during eyes-closed resting, eyes-open resting, and an inhibitory control task to allow calculation of activation indices. The Child Behaviour Checklist was completed by the child's parent at this time, and again 6-8 months later after the child's transition to kindergarten.
Resting activation was represented by reductions in frontal delta, theta, and alpha power in the eyes-open compared to eyes-closed condition, and an increase in frontal beta power. Task-related activation was represented by increases in frontal delta, theta, and alpha power and a decrease in beta power. Frontal delta and theta task-related activation significantly predicted externalising behaviours in both preschool and kindergarten, with stronger prediction in kindergarten.
This study characterised resting and task-related activation in preschool children, and reported similar effects to those found in older children and adults for resting activation, with novel effects for task-related activation. As task-related activation indices were predictive of externalising behaviours in both preschool and kindergarten, these results have implications for early identification of children who experience externalising behavioural problems across the transition to school period. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD?: This study provides new data on how the fundamental physiological processes of resting and task-related activation, both of which are theorised to contribute to "upstream" processes such as executive functions and broader behaviour, are represented in the frontal EEG of preschool aged children. We also learn that the top-down task-related activation indices for delta and theta activity were predictive of current mental health status and future status after the transition to kindergarten, while the bottom-up resting activation indices were not.
先前的研究已经描述了与小学生和成年人静息激活相关的脑电图变化，而与任务相关的激活仅在成年人中进行了考虑。本研究描述了学龄前儿童的生理激活，并探讨了激活指数在两个时间点预测心理健康状况的潜在价值。
研究静息激活和与任务相关的激活如何在 4 至 5 岁的学龄前儿童中表现出来，并检验这些激活指数是否可以预测当前和未来的心理健康状况。
从 81 名学龄前儿童的额部记录静息时闭眼、静息时睁眼和抑制控制任务的脑电图，以计算激活指数。此时，孩子的家长完成儿童行为检查表，并且在孩子过渡到幼儿园后 6-8 个月再次完成。
与闭眼相比，睁眼时静息激活表现为额部 delta、theta 和 alpha 功率降低，beta 功率增加。与任务相关的激活表现为额部 delta、theta 和 alpha 功率增加，beta 功率降低。在学龄前和幼儿园阶段，额部 delta 和 theta 与任务相关的激活均能显著预测外显行为，而在幼儿园阶段的预测作用更强。
本研究描述了学龄前儿童的静息和与任务相关的激活，并且报告了与年龄较大的儿童和成年人的静息激活相似的结果，对于与任务相关的激活则有新的发现。由于与任务相关的激活指数可以预测学龄前和幼儿园阶段的外显行为问题，因此这些结果对于在过渡到学校期间识别出现外显行为问题的儿童具有重要意义。
这项研究提供了关于静息和与任务相关的激活这两个基本生理过程如何在学龄前儿童的额部脑电图中表现出来的新数据，这两个过程都被认为对执行功能和更广泛的行为等“上游”过程有贡献。我们还了解到，对于 delta 和 theta 活动的自上而下的与任务相关的激活指数可以预测当前的心理健康状况和过渡到幼儿园后的未来状况，而自下而上的静息激活指数则不能。
