Behavioral inhibition and EEG delta-beta correlation in early childhood: Comparing a between-subjects and within-subjects approach

• Published in: Biological psychology Vol. 149; p. 107785
• Main Authors: Poole, Kristie L., Anaya, Berenice, Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Anxiety - physiopathology; Behavioral inhibition; Beta Rhythm - physiology; Brain - physiopathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Delta Rhythm - physiology; Delta-beta correlation; EEG; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Inhibition, Psychological; Male; Temperament; Temperament - physiology; Behavioral inhibition; Delta-beta correlation; Temperament; Child; EEG
• ISSN: 0301-0511; 1873-6246; 1873-6246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107785

•We examined the relation between BI and between-subjects and within-subjects measures of delta-beta correlation in children.•High BI children had a higher between-subjects delta-beta correlation relative to low BI children at frontal and central brain regions.•Continuous scores of BI were positively correlated with central and parietal within-subjects delta-beta correlation.•Delta-beta correlation may be a neural correlate of BI in childhood. Heightened delta-beta correlation has been conceptualized as reflecting exaggerated neural regulation and has been implicated in anxiety. Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characterized by wariness to novelty and is a robust predictor of anxiety, but delta-beta correlation has not been investigated in relation to childhood BI. We examined the relation between BI and between-subjects (i.e., across participants) and within-subjects (i.e., across data epochs) measures of baseline EEG delta-beta correlation in 118 children. Using a between-subjects measure, children scoring high on BI had higher delta-beta correlation relative to low BI children at frontal and central, and marginally higher in parietal, brain regions. Using a within-subjects measure, continuous BI scores were positively correlated with central and parietal delta-beta correlation. Delta-beta correlation may be a neural correlate of BI in childhood that displays differences in region specificity, correlation strength, and variability of correlation values when comparing between- and within-subjects measures.