Reliability of an automated gaze‐controlled paradigm for capturing neural responses during visual and face processing in toddlerhood

Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) has substantial potential value for examining individual differences during early development. Current challenges in developmental EEG research include high dropout rates and low trial numbers, which may in part be due to passive stimulus presentation. Comparability is challenged by idiosyncratic processing pipelines. We present a novel toolbox ("Braintools") that uses gaze-contingent stimulus presentation and an automated processing pipeline suitable for measuring visual processing through low-density EEG recordings in the field. We tested the feasibility of this toolbox in 61 2.5-to 4-year olds, and computed test-retest reliability (1to 2-week interval) of event-related potentials (ERP) associated with visual (P1) and face processing (N290, P400). Feasibility was good, with 52 toddlers providing some EEG data at the first session. Reliability values for ERP features were moderate when derived from 20 trials; this would allow inclusion of 79% of the 61 toddlers for the P1 and 82% for the N290 and P400. P1 amplitude/latency were more reliable across sessions than for the N290 and P400. Amplitudes were generally more reliable than latencies. Automated and standardized solutions to collection and analysis of event-related EEG data would allow efficient application in large-scale global health studies, opening significant potential for examining individual differences in development. K E Y W O R D S child, electroencephalography, evoked potentials, eye-tracking technology, human development, methods, preschool 1 INTRODUCTION The human brain develops rapidly during the first 5 years of postnatal life. During this relatively short window of development, a range of cognitive and motor abilities develop and mature from infancy through toddlerhood to preschool (Johnson & De Haan, 2015). Similarly, brain structure and functioning undergo substantial changes (Grayson & Fair, This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Methods and metrics for EEG/ERP assessment of emotion and cognition in young children

“…Both Morales et al. (2022) and Haartsen and colleagues (2021) describe standardized pipelines for processing and quantification of response‐locked brain activity, each making efforts to streamline data processing procedures in ways that minimize lab‐to‐lab variability and allow for more direct comparisons across studies.…”

“…Haartsen et al. (2021) offer an innovative approach using gaze‐contingent stimulus presentation to ensure that young children are attending to stimuli as EEG/ERP data are recorded.…”

“…Instead, passive viewing tasks are commonly used to record EEG/ERP to stimuli without requiring an overt response from participants. Haartsen et al (2021) offer an innovative approach using gaze-contingent stimulus presentation to ensure that young children are attending to stimuli as EEG/ERP data are recorded.…”

Social communication therapy for children at risk for neurodevelopmental difficulties: Protocol for a clinical trial

“…The battery will begin with a quasi‐resting‐state task in which the children will view a video of abstract shapes while their EEG activity is recorded; this video 33 was developed specifically for collecting resting‐state neuroimaging data from young children and is used in our other studies of early child development. The second task involves passive viewing of photographic images of female faces showing neutral facial expressions (four different females will be used, each of a different racial or ethnic background, taken from the RADIATE face stimulus set 34 ) and black and white checkerboard patterns; this task reliably elicits neural indices of face processing versus more general visual processing and is commonly used in studies examining the development of social communication abilities 35 …”

From the lab to the field: acceptability of using electroencephalography with Indian preschool children

“…Finally, having eye-tracking removes the need for collecting videos of the child for later manual gaze coding; this improves the potential for scalability and reduces the privacy concerns raised by capturing images of the child in their home setting. A recent study in a HIC and laboratory-based setting demonstrated this gaze-contingent stimulus presentation results in low drop-out rates and results in moderate test-retest reliability of neural responses in young toddlers 23 .…”