Frontal theta activation associated with error detection in toddlers: influence of familial socioeconomic status
Ángela Conejero1, Sonia Guerra1, Alicia Abundis-Gutiérrez1
1Department of Experimental Psychology & Center for Research on Mind, Brain, and Behavior (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
Insights
Early childhood executive attention network development is influenced by socioeconomic factors. Environmental influences on brain function, specifically error detection, can be identified using electroencephalography (EEG) signals in toddlers.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Error detection is a key function of the executive attention network, crucial for executive control.
- Limited research exists on the early development of this network and its environmental influences.
- Previous adult studies show theta-band oscillations in medial frontal cortex during error detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the early development of the executive attention network in toddlers.
- To examine the relationship between environmental factors and the efficacy of this network.
- To establish electroencephalography (EEG) error-detection signals as early markers for developmental disorders.
Main Methods:
- A novel experimental procedure involving observing correct and incorrect puzzle formations was used.
- Electrophysiological recordings (EEG) measured brain activity, specifically theta power and midline channel potentials.
- Toddlers (n=56) and adults (n=14) participated, with socioeconomic status (SES) and parental education assessed.
Main Results:
- Toddlers and adults showed increased midline potentials and theta power when observing incorrect configurations.
- Socioeconomic status and parental education significantly predicted individual differences in error-related signals and theta power in toddlers.
- Children from lower SES backgrounds exhibited reduced activation of the executive attention network.
Conclusions:
- Environmental factors, including SES, influence the earliest development of the executive attention network.
- EEG-based error-detection signals serve as reliable neural markers for early executive attention development.
- These findings support the potential for early detection of developmental disorders linked to executive attention deficits.
Abstract:
Error detection is one of the functions of the executive attention network, a brain system involved in executive control that includes the anterior cingulate cortex and other prefrontal regions. Despite the key role of this function in a wide range of life outcomes, very limited research has examined the early development of the network and whether its functional efficacy is related to environmental factors. Electrophysiological studies with adults have shown oscillatory activity in theta (4-7 Hz) range arising from medial frontal cortex that follows the detection of self-committed or observed errors. In the current study, we designed a novel experimental procedure that involved a familiarization phase with simple three-pieces puzzles followed by an experimental phase in which toddlers observed the puzzles being formed either correctly or incorrectly. Observation of incorrect configurations produced increased potentials in midline channels and greater power theta activity for both toddlers (n = 56) and adults (n = 14). In addition, socioeconomic status of the family in general, and parental education in particular, contributed to individual differences in the amplitude of the error-related signal and associated theta power in toddlers, indicating that children raised in lower SES families show poorer activation of the executive attention network. These data demonstrate the influence of environmental factors at the earliest stages of development of the executive attention network. Importantly, the results show that error-detection EEG signals can be used as neural markers of the initial development of executive attention, which can be of great help for the early detection of risk for developmental disorders involving deficits in this function.
