J Clin Neurol.  2022 Sep;18(5):581-593. 10.3988/jcn.2022.18.5.581.

Variations of Resting-State EEG-Based Functional Networks in Brain Maturation From Early Childhood to Adolescence

• Chung YG
• Jeon Y
• Kim RG
• Cho A
• Kim H
• Hwang H
• Choi J
• Kim KJ

• KMID: 2532688
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3988/jcn.2022.18.5.581

Abstract

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 networkbased 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.

Keyword

electroencephalography; rest state; functional connectivity; graph theory; child; brain maturation