Differences in neurophysiological resting-state alpha spectral events in 4–12-year-old children with prenatal exposure to alcohol relative to typically developing controls

Objective

To investigate the effects of age and prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on the constituent parameters underlying mean alpha power.

Methods

Resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) alpha events were characterized by measuring event spectral power, number of events per epoch, duration of events, and frequency span within the alpha band (7–13 Hz) in 82 typically developing controls (TDCs) and 53 participants with PAE/FASD. We examined the relationship between these parameters and overall mean alpha power as well as how they differ with age and PAE/FASD.

Results

Age negatively correlated with mean event duration in both groups, (r = -0.29, p < 0.001) with duration reduced in older participants. Age negatively correlated with mean alpha power’s association with mean event duration in PAE/FASD (r = -0.38, p < 0.05) and positively correlated with mean alpha power’s association with mean event frequency span in both groups (r = 0.22, p < 0.05). The correlation between mean alpha power and mean event duration (p = 0.038) was stronger in TDCs. Despite the group difference, longer event durations led to more mean alpha power in both groups. Mean alpha power negatively correlated with mean event frequency span in both groups but the negative correlation was stronger in the TDC group (p = 0.036)

Conclusion

The differences found in alpha events with age and PAE may provide valuable insights into the physiological correlates of attention and highlight the potential of alpha oscillations as biomarkers for understanding attention-related deficits in children with prenatal alcohol exposure.