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

我的研究项目研究自发的生理高频振荡（HFO，80- 500 Hz），这反映了儿童时期复杂技能的获得。近年来，研究表明，不仅由刺激触发的HFO，而且自发的HFO也是认知技能（如运动规划和记忆巩固）的重要驱动因素。首先描述的主要是颅内静息状态脑电图记录，HFO也已可靠地观察到头皮脑电图。这将使我们能够系统地调查HFO在多大程度上反映了儿童的发展。所有的脑电图节律在大脑成熟过程中都会发生系统性的变化，这一过程被称为脑电图个体发育。 将HFO确定为成功发展的一种衡量标准，需要对HFO进行更全面的定性：HFO在大脑中产生的年龄以及与年龄相关的频率、速率和位置变化。未来5年的总体目标是将HFO确立为儿童大脑成熟的客观生物标志物。我们假设，HFO反映成功的学习过程中的发展更准确地比其他EEG功能或行为观察。 我将通过实现4个目标来推进大脑发育过程中有关HFO的知识：1.明确了解不同脑区颅内HFO特征（如速率、频率和功率）的年龄依赖性变化。2.阐明是什么决定了头皮上皮质HFO的可见性：年龄、发生器位置或频率。3.提供从早产到青春期所有发育阶段的头皮HFO成熟的具体地图。4.建立静息状态HFO的证据，作为对学龄前儿童运动功能变化的精确和个体评估。我的研究项目在多个尺度上研究HFO，从直接皮层记录到头皮脑电图。调查将涵盖从早产儿到青春期的所有年龄段。本建议将回答以下问题：1.自发性HFO是否与年龄有关？2. HFO在头皮EEG上是否可靠？3. HFO在多大程度上反映了发育过程中的运动功能？ 重要性：HFO比任何其他EEG特征都更有可能密切反映高度复杂的功能。在这个项目中开发的皮质和头皮HFO的详细图谱将作为未来理解发育过程的黄金标准，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EEG个体发育的第一个系统评估，并将阐明皮质成熟如何影响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.