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Event Related Potentials ERPs and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD
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Neural Rhythms of Change: Long-Term Improvement after Successful Treatment in Children with Disruptive Behavior

Steven Woltering1, Victoria Liao2, Zhong-Xu Liu3

  • 1Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA ; Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2J7.

Neural Plasticity
|August 11, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Children with disruptive behavior problems showed reduced theta power in brain activity one year after treatment, indicating improved self-regulation. This neural change, measured via electroencephalography (EEG), may serve as a marker for treatment success.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Disruptive behavior problems in children are associated with altered neural activity.
  • Treatment programs aim to improve self-regulation and reduce behavioral issues.
  • Long-term neural changes following treatment are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate neural changes, specifically electroencephalography (EEG) patterns, in children with disruptive behavior problems one year after completing a treatment program.
  • To determine if specific EEG markers, like theta power, correlate with long-term behavioral improvements.
  • To explore the potential of neural measures as indicators of treatment efficacy.

Main Methods:

  • Thirty-nine children and their parents participated in EEG recordings during a Go/No-go task before, immediately after, and one year after a 14-week cognitive behavioral therapy and parent management training program.
  • Participants were categorized into long-term improvers (IMPs) and non-improvers (NIMPs) based on externalizing problem scores.
  • Analysis focused on theta power (4-8 Hz) during specific task phases (100-250 ms and 250-650 ms).

Main Results:

  • A significant decrease in early no-go theta power (100-250 ms) was observed in long-term improvers compared to non-improvers.
  • When stratified by changes in internalizing symptoms, reductions in theta power were more pronounced and observed across both early and later task phases (250-650 ms).
  • These findings suggest theta power changes reflect improved self-regulation linked to treatment outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • Theta power in EEG recordings shows potential as a neural marker for tracking behavioral changes and improved self-regulation in children treated for disruptive behavior problems, even up to a year post-treatment.
  • The findings support the use of neural measures to characterize treatment success and may inform the development of novel biomarkers.
  • Further research can explore the clinical implications for diagnosing and monitoring treatment response in pediatric disruptive behavior.

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