Quantifying Motor Experience in the Infant Brain: EEG Power, Coherence, and Mu Desynchronization.
- Authors
- Gonzalez, Sandy L; Reeb-Sutherland, Bethany C; Nelson, Eliza L
- Year
- 2016
- Journal
- Frontiers in psychology
- PMID
- 26925022
- DOI
- 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00216
- PMCID
- PMC4757680
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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| 20 | Use of Power, Coherence, and Mu Desynchronization β Social Development | Coherence has also served as a neural tool in relation to infant social development, specifically inβ¦ |
| 21 | Use of Power, Coherence, and Mu Desynchronization β Social Development | Mu desynchronization has been used as a neural measure in studies of infantsβ action perceptionβ¦ |
| 22 | Use of Power, Coherence, and Mu Desynchronization β Social Development | From behavioral work, it is known that motor experience plays an important role in socialβ¦ |
| 23 | Conclusion | As reviewed here, research utilizing power, coherence, and mu desynchronization provides great⦠|
| 24 | Conclusion | of neural measures in research on these cross-domain relations may further clarify the complex⦠|
| 25 | Author Contributions | Conceived and wrote the paper: SG, BR-S, and EN. |
| 26 | Conflict of Interest Statement | The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial⦠|
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