Variations of Resting-State EEG-Based Functional Networks in Brain Maturation From Early Childhood to Adolescence
Yoon Gi Chung1, Yonghoon Jeon1, Ryeo Gyeong Kim1
1Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
Background And Purpose:
Alterations in human brain functional networks with maturation have been explored extensively in numerous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. It is known that the age-related changes in the functional networks occurring prior to adulthood deviate from ordinary trajectories of network-based brain maturation across the adult lifespan.
Methods:
This study investigated the longitudinal evolution of resting-state EEG-based functional networks from early childhood to adolescence among 212 pediatric patients (age 12.2±3.5 years, range 4.4-17.9) in 6 frequency bands using 8 types of functional connectivity measures in the amplitude, frequency, and phase domains.
Results:
Electrophysiological aspects of network-based pediatric brain maturation were characterized by increases in both functional segregation and integration up to middle adolescence. EEG oscillations in the upper alpha band reflected the age-related increases in mean node strengths and mean clustering coefficients and a decrease in the characteristic path lengths better than did those in the other frequency bands, especially for the phase-domain functional connectivity. The frequency-band-specific age-related changes in the global network metrics were influenced more by volume-conduction effects than by the domain specificity of the functional connectivity measures.
Conclusions:
We believe that this is the first study to reveal EEG-based functional network properties during preadult brain maturation based on various functional connectivity measures. The findings potentially have clinical applications in the diagnosis and treatment of age-related brain disorders.
