Using EEG to Study Cognitive Development: Issues and Practices

Bell, Martha Ann; Cuevas, Kimberly

doi:10.1080/15248372.2012.691143

Cited by 196 publications

(160 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…To this end, we separate this section into four different aspects of the mu methodology: (1) considerations regarding baseline; (2) considerations for action observation and execution trials; (3) considerations regarding stimulus duration, outliers, and minimal amount of usable data; and (4) considerations regarding frequency bands, reference type, and scalp distribution. Although some of these topics have been addressed in behavioral or other developmental EEG papers (for reviews, see Bell & Cuevas, 2012; Fox, Schmidt, Henderson, & Marshall, 2007), our review of the infant mu literature revealed that these topics were the most salient to infant mu researchers for enhancing between study comparisons.…”

Section: Methodological Considerations Of Infant Eeg Mu Rhythm Researmentioning

confidence: 94%

The infant EEG mu rhythm: Methodological considerations and best practices

Cuevas

Cannon

Yoo

et al. 2014

Developmental Review

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141

111

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The EEG mu rhythm, recorded from scalp regions overlying the sensorimotor cortex, appears to exhibit mirroring properties: It is reactive when performing an action and when observing another perform the same action. Recently, there has been an exponential increase in developmental mu rhythm research, partially due to the mu rhythm’s potential role in our understanding of others’ actions as well as a variety of other social and cognitive processes (e.g., imitation, theory of mind, language). Unfortunately, various methodological issues impede integrating these findings into a comprehensive theory of mu rhythm development. The present manuscript provides a review of the infant mu rhythm literature while focusing on current methodological problems that impede between study comparisons. By highlighting these issues and providing an in depth description and analysis we aim to heighten awareness and propose guidelines (when possible) that will promote rigorous infant mu rhythm research and facilitate between study comparisons. This paper is intended as a resource for developmental scientists, regardless of EEG expertise.

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Section: Methodological Considerations Of Infant Eeg Mu Rhythm Researmentioning

confidence: 94%

The infant EEG mu rhythm: Methodological considerations and best practices

Cuevas

Cannon

Yoo

et al. 2014

Developmental Review

Self Cite

141

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although EEG has excellent temporal resolution, it has relatively poor spatial resolution (Bell & Cuevas, 2012). Thus, the specific neuronal populations or subcortical structures that contribute towards electrical activity at any particular site cannot be reliably inferred (Bell & Cuevas, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in frontal EEG coherence across infancy predict cognitive abilities at age 3: The mediating role of attentional control.

Whedon¹,

Perry²,

Calkins³

et al. 2016

Developmental Psychology

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Theoretical perspectives of cognitive development have maintained that functional integration of the prefrontal cortex across infancy underlies the emergence of attentional control and higher cognitive abilities in early childhood. To investigate these proposed relations, we tested whether functional integration of prefrontal regions across the second half of the first year predicted observed cognitive performance in early childhood indirectly through observed attentional control one year prior (N=300). Results indicated that greater change in left—but not right—frontal EEG coherence between 5- and 10-months was positively associated with attentional control, cognitive flexibility, receptive language, and behavioral inhibitory control. Specifically, a larger increase in coherence between left frontal regions was positively associated with accuracy on a visual search task at age 2; and visual search accuracy was positively associated with receptive vocabulary, performance on a set-shifting task (DCCS), and delay of gratification at age 3. Finally, the indirect effects from the change in left frontal EEG coherence to 3-year cognitive flexibility, receptive language, and behavioral inhibitory control were significant, suggesting that internally controlled attention is a mechanism through which early neural maturation influences children’s cognitive development.

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“…On the other hand, EEG power has a long tradition as a measure of brain development (see Bell, 1998; Bell & Fox, 1994, for reviews). The EEG signal reflects post-synaptic activity and EEG power (level of mean square microvolts of the EEG signal resulting from Fourier analysis) reflects the excitability of groups of neurons (Bell & Cuevas, 2012). With respect to brain development during infancy, more neural activity translates into higher EEG power.…”

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confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Associations Between the Quality of Mother–Infant Interactions and Brain Development Across Infancy

2016

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The aim of this study was to investigate if normative variations in parenting relate to brain development among typically-developing children. A sample of 352 mother-infant dyads came to the lab when infants were 5, 10, and 24 months of age (final N = 215). At each visit, child resting EEG was recorded. Mother-infant interactions were videotaped at the 5-month visit. The results indicated that higher-quality maternal behavior during mother-infant interactions predicted higher frontal resting EEG power at 10 and 24 months, as well as increases in power between 5 and 10 months, and between 10 and 24 months. These findings provide rare support for the hypothesis that normative variation in parenting quality may contribute to brain development among typically-developing infants.

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Using EEG to Study Cognitive Development: Issues and Practices

Cited by 196 publications

References 36 publications

The infant EEG mu rhythm: Methodological considerations and best practices

The infant EEG mu rhythm: Methodological considerations and best practices

Changes in frontal EEG coherence across infancy predict cognitive abilities at age 3: The mediating role of attentional control.

Longitudinal Associations Between the Quality of Mother–Infant Interactions and Brain Development Across Infancy

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