Early childhood resting brain activity predicts cognitive outcomes in adulthood: study

Resting brain activity observed during early childhood holds significant predictive value for long-term cognitive outcomes extending into adulthood, according to new research published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 

The findings contribute to deeper understandings of how factors develop during critical developmental periods which shape individual’s cognitive growth over time. 

“I have always been interested in early individual differences and the relations between brain activity and behaviors,” said researcher Enda Tan, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

“In this study, I was particularly interested in whether resting brain activity, a measure commonly used in developmental research as an index of brain development, has meaningful implications for predicting long-term outcomes.”

Resting brain activity is often measured through techniques like electroencephalogram (EEG), and is thought to reflect the brain’s intrinsic functioning. This activity pattern can serve as a biomarker of brain health and development. 

To learn more the study leveraged multiple timepoints across development, from early childhood to adulthood. This approach enabled the researchers to investigate how early differences in brain activity relate to cognitive development over an extended period.

More than 200 children were involved in the research having participated in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a research project that focused on studying the effects of early psychosocial deprivation on child development and the potential benefits of intervention, particularly foster care, for children who have experienced institutional rearing.

Data was collected from the children at several time points: when they were infants (baseline), at 30 months, and at 42 months. The researchers used EEG technology to measure brain activity and conducted cognitive tasks to assess their developmental progress. When the children reached 18 years of age, their cognitive abilities were evaluated using an IQ test.

The researchers found that resting brain activity during early childhood could predict cognitive outcomes when the participants reached 18 years of age. Specifically, the researchers found that the amount of brain activity in the theta frequency band during resting periods at baseline, 30 months, and 42 months correlated with the children’s IQ at 18 years old. Other frequency bands (alpha, beta, gamma) did not show significant correlations with IQ.

Further analysis showed that the resting theta activity in early childhood was linked to specific cognitive abilities at 18 years, including perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. This suggests that the brain’s theta activity during rest might be tied to these particular cognitive skills later in life.

Additionally, the researchers found that experiences like institutional rearing and the timing of foster care placement had significant effects on cognitive development, with resting theta power acting as a mediator between these experiences and long-term cognitive outcomes.

Institutional rearing (such as being placed in an orphanage) was associated with higher resting theta power at baseline, which in turn was associated with lower developmental quotient (DQ) at 30 and 42 months, and ultimately lower IQ at 18 years. Similarly, later placement into foster care (as opposed to earlier placement) was linked to higher resting theta power at 30 months, which then led to lower DQ at 42 months and lower IQ at 18 years.

The study, Resting brain activity in early childhood predicts IQ at 18 years, was authored by Enda Tan, Alva Tang, Ranjan Debnath, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Charles H. Zeanah, Charles A. Nelson, and Nathan A. Fox.

Access the findings here.