Understanding brain maturation: How spontaneous cortical high frequency oscillations develop and affect executive function during childhood

我的研究项目是自发的生理高频振荡（HFOs, 80-500Hz），它反映了儿童时期复杂技能的习得。近年来的研究表明，除了刺激引发的hfo外，自发的hfo也是运动规划和记忆巩固等认知技能的重要驱动因素。hfo最初主要在颅内静息状态脑电图记录中被描述，在头皮脑电图中也被可靠地观察到。这将使我们能够系统地调查hfo在多大程度上反映儿童的发育。在大脑成熟过程中，所有脑电图节律都经历系统性变化，这一过程被称为脑电图个体发生。将氢氟烃作为成功发展的衡量标准，将需要对氢氟烃进行更全面的描述：它们在大脑中产生的年龄，以及它们在频率、速率和位置上与年龄相关的变化。未来5年的首要目标是将氢氟烯烃作为儿童大脑成熟的客观生物标志物。我们假设hfo比其他脑电图特征或行为观察更准确地反映了发育过程中成功的学习。我将通过实现4个目标来推进大脑发育过程中关于hfo的知识：1。清晰了解颅内HFO在不同脑区速率、频率和功率等特征的年龄依赖性变化。2. 阐明决定头皮皮层hfo可见性的因素：年龄、产生部位或频率。3. 提供从早产儿到青春期所有发育阶段头皮HFO成熟的具体图谱。4. 为静息状态HFOs作为学龄前儿童运动功能变化的精确和个体评估建立证据。我的研究项目从直接皮层记录到头皮脑电图，在多个尺度上研究hfo。调查将涵盖从早产儿到青春期的所有年龄段。该提案将提供以下问题的答案：1。自发性氢氟烃是否与年龄有关？2. 头皮脑电图能可靠地获取hfo吗？3. hfo在多大程度上反映了发育过程中的运动功能？意义：与其他脑电图特征相比，hfo更有可能密切反映高度复杂的功能。该项目开发的皮层和头皮hfo详细图谱将成为未来理解发育过程的金标准，并将有助于行为、认知和发育神经科学的研究。它还将提供颅内脑电图个体发生的第一个系统评估，并将阐明皮层成熟如何影响hfo。

My research program studies spontaneous physiological High Frequency Oscillations (HFOs, 80-500Hz), which reflect the acquisition of complex skills during childhood. In recent years, it has been shown that not only HFOs triggered by stimuli but also spontaneous HFOs are important drivers of cognitive skills like motor planning and memory consolidation. First described mainly in intracranial resting state EEG recordings, HFOs  have also been reliably observed on scalp EEG. This will allow us to systematically investigate the extent to which HFOs reflect development in children. All EEG rhythms undergo systematic changes during brain maturation, a process known as EEG ontogenesis.  Establishing HFOs as a measure of successful development will necessitate a more comprehensive characterization of HFOs: the age at which they are generated in the brain and age-related changes in their frequency, rate and location. The overarching goal for the next 5 years is to establish HFOs as an objective biomarker for brain maturation in children. We hypothesize that HFOs reflect successful learning during development more precisely than other EEG features or behavioural observations. I will advance knowledge about HFOs during brain development by fulfilling 4 objectives: 1. Establish a clear understanding of age-dependent changes of intracranial HFO characteristics like rate, frequency and power in different brain regions. 2. Clarify what determines visibility of cortical HFOs on the scalp: age, location of generator or frequency. 3. Provide specific maps of scalp HFO maturation across all developmental stages from preterm to adolescence. 4. Establish evidence for a resting state HFOs as a precise and individual assessment of changing motor function in preschool children. My research program studies HFOs at multiple scales from direct cortical recordings to scalp EEG. Investigations will span all ages from preterm babies to adolescence. This proposal will provide answers to the following questions: 1. Are spontaneous HFOs age-dependent? 2. Are HFOs reliably accessible on scalp EEG? 3. To which extent do HFOs reflect motor function during development? Significance: More than any other EEG signatures, HFOs have the potential to closely reflect highly complex functions. The detailed atlas of cortical and scalp HFOs developed in this project will serve as a gold standard for future understanding of developmental processes and will contribute to research in behavioural, cognitive and developmental  neuroscience. It will also provide the first systematic assessment of intracranial EEG ontogenesis and will shed light on how cortical maturation affects HFOs.