EEG alpha rhythm in infants

Abstract

The ‘functional topography’ approach has been applied to study alpha rhythms in infant twins during the second half-year of life. The experimental sample included 154 normal infants born at 32–41 weeks of gestational age. Their chronological age varied from 7.4 to 12.4 months. EEG was registered during wakefulness under two experimental conditions: sustained visual attention and dark homogenous visual field. During darkness as compared with visual attention the sharp increase of spectral amplitudes within 5.2–9.6 Hz band was observed over the occipital-parietal cortex. The properties of the 5.2–9.6 Hz occipital rhythmic activity comply with the classical properties of alpha rhythm. The distinct spectral peak in 6.0–8.8 Hz band at precentral recording sites was observed during sustained visual attention. This rhythmic component was suppressed under the condition of total darkness. Arguments in favour of homology between the infant central rhythm and adult sensorimotor mu rhythm are advanced. The group mean of alpha peak frequency increased from 6.24±0.45 Hz at 8 months to 6.78±0.38 Hz at 11 months of chronological age. The frequency of infant alpha rhythm depended only on the period of extrauterine experience, regardless of gestational age at birth. This result points to the critical role of early visual experience in alpha rhythm development. The group mean of the peak frequency of mu rhythm also increased during the second half-year of life, from 7.03±0.47 Hz at 8 months to 7.42±0.46 Hz at 11 months. Unlike alpha rhythm, the peak frequency of mu rhythm depended on duration of both intra- and extrauterine development. We speculate that the development of sensorimotor mu rhythm is influenced by somatosensory stimulation, which, in sharp contrast to the visual input, is present in the uterus.