Temperament and Electrocortical Development: Examination of Infant Alpha EEG Coherence

Temperament and its development have been associated with the alpha band of EEG coherence in previous research that focused on adolescent and adult populations, results suggest that this measure stands as a reliable indicator of emotional states. In the current study, five data sets from previously conducted studies were analyzed to determine if resting state alpha coherence measures differ in various brain regions and are associated with variation in levels of temperament. Additionally, we aimed to determine if, as age increases, a synchronous result in coherence may be seen (specifically, from posterior to anterior), in accordance with neurophysiological development. Regression analyses suggested that the negative affectivity temperamental qualities did not significantly associate with coherence. Repeated-measures analyses yielded significant results in favor of the electrocortical development hypothesis and, through exploratory analysis, more reactive temperament scores depicting positive affectivity, emotional/self-regulation, and activity level displayed in infants who had higher coherence in posterior regions. The study was suggestive of high coherence values associating with highly reactive temperamental attributes in posterior regions in the 3- to 12-month-old participants and higher coherence values displaying in posterior regions compared to anterior regions consistently across age groups.