Journal
BRAIN AND COGNITION
Volume 89, Issue -, Pages 90-98Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.10.004
Keywords
Phase reset; EEG alpha; Aggression; Anxiety; Adolescence
Categories
Funding
- Canadian Institutes for Health Research
- Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Ontario Innovation Trust
- NSERC doctoral fellowship
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Increasing evidence supports the notion that both internalizing (e.g., anxiety) and externalizing (e.g., aggression) behavioral dysregulation are associated with abnormal communication between brain regions. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals across two electrode sites are said to be coherent with one another when they show consistent phase relations. However, periods of desynchrony with shifting of phase relations are a necessary aspect of information processing. The components of EEG phase reset ('locking' when two regions remain in synchrony, and 'shifting' when the two regions desynchronize momentarily) show dramatic changes across development. We collected resting EEG data from typically developing 12 to 15-year-olds and calculated phase shift and lock values in the alpha frequency band across 14 pairs of electrodes varying in inter-electrode distance. A composite measure of participants' aggression levels was positively associated with phase shifting, particularly in the low alpha frequency range, most strongly over the left hemisphere, consistent with the relatively greater left-prefrontal activity reported in aggressive adults. A composite measure of anxiety levels was positively associated with alpha phase locking at sites over both hemispheres, consistent with changes in connectivity reported during anxious thinking in adults. Associations with anxiety could not be explained by traditional EEG coherence measures and suggest that phase shifting and locking might provide an important non-invasive associate of clinically problematic behavior. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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