Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 16, 2026

EEG Mu Rhythm in Typical and Atypical Development
11:50

EEG Mu Rhythm in Typical and Atypical Development

Published on: April 9, 2014

26.5K

Developmental Trajectories of Delta-Beta EEG Coupling Across Infancy: The Influence of Infant Temperament and

Berenice Anaya1, Brendan Ostlund2, Vanessa LoBue3

  • 1Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Developmental Psychobiology
|September 26, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Delta-beta EEG coupling trajectories in infants reveal developmental changes and associations with temperament and maternal anxiety. These findings offer insights into early regulatory processes and their environmental influences.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Delta-beta EEG coupling correlates with regulatory processes and anxiety.
  • Previous research primarily used cross-sectional designs, limiting understanding of normative development.
  • The developmental trajectory and influencing factors of delta-beta coupling in infants are poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model the developmental trajectories of delta-beta EEG coupling in infants from 4 to 24 months.
  • To investigate the associations between these coupling trajectories and infant negative affect and maternal anxiety.
  • To explore how infant temperament and environmental anxiety modulate delta-beta coupling development.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 165 infants with EEG, negative affect, and maternal anxiety assessments at 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months.
  • Multilevel modeling was used to analyze delta (1-2.5 Hz) and beta (11-18 Hz) power coupling.
  • Examined associations between coupling trajectories and infant/maternal traits over time.

Main Results:

  • Delta-beta coupling increased in the Frontal region (8-24 months) but decreased in Central and Parietal regions.
  • Steeper decreases in Parietal coupling were linked to increasing infant negative affect.
  • Maternal anxiety was associated with increasing Parietal coupling trajectories in infants with decreasing negative affect.

Conclusions:

  • Delta-beta EEG coupling exhibits distinct developmental trajectories across different brain regions in infants.
  • Infant temperament and maternal anxiety significantly modulate these developmental patterns.
  • Findings highlight the interplay between internal regulatory processes and the proximal environment in early development.

Keywords:
EEGdelta–beta couplingmaternal anxietynegative affectresting‐state

More Related Videos

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG08:20

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG

Published on: May 3, 2017

8.2K
Author Spotlight: Capturing Infant-Caregiver Interactions Through Synchronized Multimodal Data Collection08:08

Author Spotlight: Capturing Infant-Caregiver Interactions Through Synchronized Multimodal Data Collection

Published on: May 31, 2024

1.5K

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
433
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
224
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
1.6K
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
500
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships. 
48.6K
Cognitive Development During Adolescence01:18

Cognitive Development During Adolescence

During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the...
503