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Updated: Nov 17, 2025
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Electroencephalography measures of relative power and coherence as reaching skill emerges in infants born preterm
Ryota Nishiyori1, Ran Xiao2, Douglas Vanderbilt3
1Division of Research on Children, Youth, and Families, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA. rnishiyori@chla.usc.edu.
Insights
Electroencephalography (EEG) in preterm infants shows varied alpha band power and connectivity during motor development. Individual analysis reveals distinct neural development subtypes, highlighting heterogeneity in preterm infants.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Electroencephalography (EEG) measures like relative power and coherence correlate with motor experience in typically developing infants.
- These EEG-motor experience relationships remain largely unexamined in preterm infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate longitudinal changes in alpha band relative power and coherence during resting-state EEG in preterm infants.
- To assess these EEG patterns as preterm infants develop reaching skills.
Main Methods:
- Collected monthly longitudinal EEG data from 14 preterm infants (56-295 adjusted days).
- Analyzed alpha band power at motor cortices and cross-regional coherence.
- Examined group-level and individual-level trends.
Main Results:
- Group-level analysis showed no consistent trends in alpha band power or coherence in preterm infants.
- Individual analysis revealed significant heterogeneity, with some infants showing typical patterns and others atypical ones.
- This heterogeneity may explain variable neuromotor outcomes in preterm infants.
Conclusions:
- Preterm infants exhibit diverse neural function development trajectories.
- EEG may serve as a valuable tool for identifying and quantifying neuromotor control development in preterm infants.
- Further research can refine EEG's role in predicting developmental outcomes.
Abstract:
Electroencephalography (EEG) measures of relative power and coherence are associated with motor experience in infants with typical development, but these relationships have not been assessed in infants born preterm. The goal of our study was to investigate the changing patterns of relative power and coherence in the alpha band during resting state EEG in infants born preterm as they developed the skill of reaching. We collected monthly longitudinal data from fourteen infants born preterm between the adjusted ages of 56 and 295 days for a total of 37 sessions of EEG data. Alpha band power at motor cortices and cross-regional connectivity do not present consistent changing trends at the group level in infants born preterm. Individual level analysis reveals that infants born preterm are a heterogeneous group with subtypes of neural function development, some presenting similar changing trends as observed in the typically developing group while others present atypical patterns. This may be linked to the variability in developmental outcomes in infants born preterm. This study was a critical first step to support EEG as a potential tool for identifying and quantifying the developmental trajectories of neuromotor control in infants born preterm.
