Quantifying Motor Experience in the Infant Brain: EEG Power, Coherence, and Mu Desynchronization

The emergence of new motor skills, such as reaching and walking, dramatically changes how infants engage with the world socially and cognitively. Several examples of how motor experience can cascade into cognitive and social development have been documented, yet a significant knowledge gap remains i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in psychology Vol. 7; p. 216
Main Authors Gonzalez, Sandy L, Reeb-Sutherland, Bethany C, Nelson, Eliza L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 18.02.2016
Subjects
cognitive development
EEG Coherence
EEG power
infants
Motor development
Mu desynchronization
Psychology
motor development
infants
mu desynchronization
cognitive development
EEG Coherence
EEG power
social development
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Summary:The emergence of new motor skills, such as reaching and walking, dramatically changes how infants engage with the world socially and cognitively. Several examples of how motor experience can cascade into cognitive and social development have been documented, yet a significant knowledge gap remains in our understanding of whether these observed behavioral changes are accompanied by underlying neural changes. We propose that electroencephalography (EEG) measures such as power, coherence, and mu desynchronization are optimal tools to quantify motor experience in the infant brain. In this mini-review, we will summarize existing infant research that has separately assessed the relation between motor, cognitive, or social development with coherence, power, or mu desynchronization. We will discuss how the reviewed neural changes seen in seemingly separate developmental domains may be linked based on existing behavioral evidence. We will further propose that power, coherence, and mu desynchronization be used in research exploring the links between motor experience and cognitive and social development.
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Edited by: Klaus Libertus, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Reviewed by: Martha Ann Bell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA; April Robyn Levin, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
This article was submitted to Developmental Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00216