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Frontal EEG asymmetry and later behavior vulnerability in infants with congenital visual impairment.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Young children with congenital visual impairment (VI) are at increased risk of behavioral vulnerabilities. Studies on 'at risk' populations suggest that frontal EEG asymmetry may be associated with behavioral risk. We investigated frontal asymmetry at 1year (Time 1), behavior at 2years (Time 2) and their longitudinal associations within a sample of infants with VI. Frontal asymmetry in the VI sample at 1year was also compared cross-sectionally to an age-matched typically sighted (TS) group. METHODS:At Time 1, 22 infants with VI and 10 TS infants underwent 128-channel EEG recording. Frontal asymmetry ratios were calculated from power spectral density values in the alpha frequency band. At Time 2, Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist data was obtained for the VI sample. RESULTS:63.6% of the VI sample and 50% of the TS sample showed left frontal asymmetry; no significant difference in frontal asymmetry was found between the two groups. 22.7% of the VI sample had subclinical to clinical range 'internalizing' behavior difficulties. Greater left frontal asymmetry at one year was significantly associated with greater emotionally reactive scores at two years within the VI sample (r=0.50, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS:Left frontal asymmetry correlates with later behavior risk within this vulnerable population. SIGNIFICANCE:These findings make an important first contribution regarding the utility of frontal EEG asymmetry as a method to investigate risk in infants with VI.

SUBMITTER: O'Reilly MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6609275 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Frontal EEG asymmetry and later behavior vulnerability in infants with congenital visual impairment.

O'Reilly Michelle A MA Bathelt Joe J Sakkalou Elena E Sakki Hanna H Salt Alison A Dale Naomi J NJ de Haan Michelle M

Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology 20170908 11

<h4>Objective</h4>Young children with congenital visual impairment (VI) are at increased risk of behavioral vulnerabilities. Studies on 'at risk' populations suggest that frontal EEG asymmetry may be associated with behavioral risk. We investigated frontal asymmetry at 1year (Time 1), behavior at 2years (Time 2) and their longitudinal associations within a sample of infants with VI. Frontal asymmetry in the VI sample at 1year was also compared cross-sectionally to an age-matched typically sighte ...[more]

PMID: 28950152

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Project description:The neuropeptide oxytocin is suggested to play a major role in a variety of complex human behaviours, including interpersonal bonding, trust and attachment. Recent theories have suggested that the role oxytocin plays in these complex social behaviours involves a modulation of motivational tendencies of approach-/avoidance-related behaviours. However, to date, direct neurophysiological evidence supporting this notion is limited. In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study with parallel design, we assessed the effects of administered intranasal oxytocin in 40 adult men on gaze behaviour and a neural marker of approach/avoidance motivational tendencies. Specifically, electroencephalography recordings were performed during the engagement of eye contact with a live model in a naturalistic two-person social context and electroencephalographic frontal alpha asymmetry, an established neurophysiological index of motivational tendencies for approach-/avoidance-related behaviours, was assessed. Compared to placebo, a single dose of oxytocin (24 international units) was shown to increase relative left-sided frontal asymmetry upon direct eye contact with a live model, which is indicative of an increase in approach-related motivational tendencies towards the presented eye contact stimulus. Notably, the treatment effect was most prominently observed in participants with lower self-reported social motivation (higher Motivation subscale scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale), indicating that participants with lower social motivation benefitted the most from the administered oxytocin. No treatment-specific changes were identified in terms of gaze behaviour towards the eye region of the live model. Together, these observations add neurophysiological evidence to the hypothesized role of oxytocin in modulating approach-/avoidance-related tendencies and suggest that inter-subject variability in person-dependent factors need to be considered to evaluate the potential benefit of intranasal oxytocin as a treatment. This notion is of particular relevance to the variety of neuropsychiatric populations such as autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety disorder and depression, for which intranasal oxytocin is increasingly considered a potential treatment.

Dataset Information

Frontal EEG asymmetry and later behavior vulnerability in infants with congenital visual impairment.

Publications

Frontal EEG asymmetry and later behavior vulnerability in infants with congenital visual impairment.

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