Developmental trajectory of MEG resting-state oscillatory activity in children and adolescents: a longitudinal reliability study

Abstract

Neural oscillations may be sensitive to aspects of brain maturation such as myelination and synaptic density changes. Better characterization of developmental trajectories and reliability is necessary for understanding typical and atypical neurodevelopment. Here, we examined reliability in 110 typically developing children and adolescents (aged 9–17 years) across 2.25 years. From 10 min of magnetoencephalography resting-state data, normalized source spectral power and intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated. We found sex-specific differences in global normalized power, with males showing age-related decreases in delta and theta, along with age-related increases in beta and gamma. Females had fewer significant age-related changes. Structural magnetic resonance imaging revealed that males had more total gray, subcortical gray, and cortical white matter volume. There were significant age-related changes in total gray matter volume with sex-specific and frequency-specific correlations to normalized power. In males, increased total gray matter volume correlated with increased theta and alpha, along with decreased gamma. Split-half reliability was excellent in all frequency bands and source regions. Test–retest reliability ranged from good (alpha) to fair (theta) to poor (remaining bands). While resting-state neural oscillations can have fingerprint-like quality in adults, we show here that neural oscillations continue to evolve in children and adolescents due to brain maturation and neurodevelopmental change.

Eyes-closed versus eyes-open differences in spontaneous neural dynamics during development

“…Finally, care should be taken to interpret the data in the context of the specific analysis that we performed. Notably, the current results represent the difference between EC and EO conditions in normalized spectral units, where each frequency band is quantified as a percentage of the total spectral power, consistent with several previous reports ( Candelaria-Cook et al, 2022 ; Lew et al, 2021 ; Niso et al, 2019 ; Ott et al, 2021 ; Wiesman et al, 2021 , but see Muthuraman et al 2015 who compared absolute power). Given that the total absolute power was greater in the EC compared to EO condition, it is possible that the stronger relative delta, theta, beta, and gamma power in the EO condition could instead show that the distribution of absolute power among the canonical bands differed between the conditions, with alpha having a much larger share of the overall absolute power in the EC relative to the EO condition.…”

“…Power spectrum densities (PSD) were estimated using Welch’s method ( Welch, 1967 ) on each four-second epoch, with one second sliding Hamming windows overlapping at 50%. The PSDs were then normalized within each frequency band to the total power across the total frequency spectrum per condition, consistent with previous reports on resting state MEG data ( Candelaria-Cook et al, 2022 ; Lew et al, 2021 ; Niso et al, 2019 ; Ott et al, 2021 ; Wiesman et al, 2021 , 2022 ). The PSD maps were then averaged within each participant, separated by the two conditions, and for each of the five frequency bands separately, resulting in 10 PSD maps for each participant.…”

Decreased resting-state alpha peak frequency in children and adolescents with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders or prenatal alcohol exposure

“…However, the relationship is typically linked to advanced pubertal stage in males ( Howsley and Levita, 2018 ). In a recent study, males (9–15 years of age) had higher alpha power in the left dorsal prefrontal cluster ( Ott et al, 2021 ) along with frequency specific changes in global normalized power ( Candelaria-Cook et al, 2022 ). We also did not find any evidence of a PAE and sex interaction.…”

“…When compared to average alpha power, alpha peak frequency may be a more sensitive and reliable measure of alpha band development ( Levin et al, 2020 ). In typical development and in adulthood, alpha spectral power has good test-retest reliability and excellent split-half reliability ( Candelaria-Cook et al, 2022 , Candelaria-Cook et al, 2020 ); therefore, it is possible alpha peak frequency may also have good to excellent reliability.…”

Brain criticality predicts individual synchronization levels in humans

“…As both connectivity and LRTCs are test-retest reliable (Candelaria-Cook et al, 2022;Nikulin & Brismar, 2004;Wiesman et al, 2022), heritable (Leppäaho et al, 2019;Linkenkaer-Hansen et al, 2007;Nikulin & Brismar, 2005), and influenced by genetic polymorphisms (Simola et al, 2022), we postulate that the individual's position in the critical regime is a phenotypic trait that predicts individuals' brain dynamics and behaviors. We postulate that individual variability in critical dynamics could underlie variability in cognitive abilities and personality traits (J. M. Palva et al, 2013) given that operating at critical dynamics is thought to maximize the dynamic range of the system, sensitivity to external and internal perturbations, transmission, storage, and computational capacity (Beggs et al, 2007;Chialvo, 2010;Larremore et al, 2011;S.…”