Developmental changes in the cortical sources of spontaneous alpha throughout adolescence

This study investigated age-, gender-, and puberty-related changes in two cortical sources of spontaneous alpha during eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions in a cohort of adolescents aged 9-23 years. In total, 29 preadolescents (9-12 years, 14 females), 29 mid-adolescents (13-17 years, 14 females), and 33 late adolescents (18-23 years, 17 females) had their resting brain activity measured using electroencephalography (EEG) during eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. Standardised Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography (sLORETA) was used to estimate the cortical sources of spontaneous alpha. Two cortical sources were chosen as regions of interest (ROIs): prefrontal cortex and occipital cortex. Significant age-related changes in the cortical sources of alpha were found, particularly in prefrontal regions; prefrontal alpha power was greater during the eyes-open condition compared to the eyes-closed condition for late adolescents, but equivalent across the eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions for both pre- and mid-adolescents. In addition, more advanced pubertal stage predicted reduced alpha power in male, but not female, adolescents aged 9-17 years. This study provides an important initial step towards understanding developmental changes in the cortical sources of spontaneous alpha in the typically developing brain. Moreover, the results from this study underscore the need to tease out the effects of age, gender, and puberty when examining the cortical sources of alpha during the adolescent period.