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Healthy older adults with excessive theta absolute power (AP) are considered at electroencephalographic risk of developing cognitive impairment 7 to 10 years later. Although this population may exhibit a normotypic cognitive state, as revealed by traditional neuropsychological assessment, less is known about their performance during tasks with high cognitive demand and whether the degree of excessive theta AP can be used to predict their performance, which was our objective. We compared the scores from highly demanding memory tasks (i.e., the Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Test (VSTMBT) and the Loewenstein-Acevedo Scale for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-II)) between older adults with and without excessive theta AP. No significant differences were found between the groups for any test score or for the predictive value of the theta AP for performance. The results of this study provide evidence that older adults with excessive theta APs do not exhibit impaired performance in highly demanding cognitive contexts. The possible role of cognitive reserve in alleviating evidence of deterioration is discussed.

Background The aging of the global population underscores the urgent need for the validation of biomarkers that can reliably distinguish individuals at risk of neurocognitive disorders. While quantitative EEG (qEEG) studies suggest that excessive theta activity predicts cognitive decline in the long term, less is known about whether increased theta can index current reduced cognitive resources, including attention, in older adults. Methods This study compared the distraction event‐related potential (Mismatch Negativity (MMN)‐P3a‐Reorientation Negativity (RON)), linked to involuntary attention, between 25 older adults with excessive theta activity (risk group, RG) and 25 controls (CG). Participants underwent an auditory duration discrimination task with standard and deviant tones while an EEG was recorded. Results Behaviorally, both groups showed distraction effects, with no significant differences between them. There were no significant differences in the amplitudes of the distraction potential between groups. However, the RG exhibited delayed P3a latencies at midline centroparietal regions and delayed RON at left parietal regions. Topographically, the RG displayed a bilateral RON effect (vs. the CG's right‐lateralized distribution). The MMN latency remained unaffected. Conclusions These findings suggest delayed attentional orientation (P3a) and reorientation (RON) in at‐risk adults, despite preserved behavioral performance. The atypical RON distribution may reflect compensatory mechanisms mitigating cognitive inefficiencies. While at‐risk‐related neural delays did not yet manifest behaviorally, they highlight early electrophysiological markers of subclinical attentional decline. This underscores the utility of increased theta activity in detecting preclinical alterations, challenging the reliance on neuropsychological tests alone. This study compared the distraction event‐related potential between 25 older adults with excessive theta activity (risk group, RG) and 25 controls (CG). Participants underwent an auditory duration discrimination task with standard and deviant tones while an EEG was recorded to obtain ERPs. Behaviorally, both groups showed distraction effects, with no significant differences between them. There were no significant differences in the amplitudes of the distraction potential between groups. However, the RG exhibited delayed P3a latencies at midline centroparietal regions and delayed RON at left parietal regions. These findings suggest delayed attentional orientation (P3a) and reorientation (RON) in at‐risk adults, despite preserved behavioral performance.

Children with learning disorders (LD) perform below average in tests of academic abilities and intelligence. These children also have a significantly abnormal resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) compared to children with typical development (TD), i.e. , an excess of slow brain oscillations such as delta and theta that may be markers of inefficient cognitive processing. We aimed to explore the relationship between the performance in an intelligence test and the resting-state EEG power spectrum of children with LD. Ninety-one children with LD and 45 control children with TD were evaluated with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children 4th Edition (WISC-IV) test of intelligence and a 19-channel EEG during an eyes-closed resting-state condition. The EEG dimensionality was reduced with a principal component analysis that yielded several components representing EEG bands with functional meaning. The first seven EEG components and the intelligence values were analyzed with multiple linear regression and a between-group discriminant analysis. The EEG power spectrum was significantly related to children’s intelligence, predicting 13.1% of the IQ variance. Generalized delta and theta power were inversely related to IQ, whereas frontoparietal gamma activity was directly related. The intelligence test and the resting state EEG had a combined 82.4% success rate to discriminate between children with TD and those with LDs.

Electroencephalographic alterations have been reported in subjects with learning disorders, but there is no consensus on what characterizes their electroencephalogram findings. Our objective was to determine if there were subgroups within a group of scholars with not otherwise specified learning disorders and if they had specific electroencephalographic patterns. Eighty-five subjects (31 female, 8-11 years) who scored low in at least two subscales -reading, writing and arithmetic- of the Infant Neuropsychological Evaluation were included. Electroencephalograms were recorded in 19 leads during rest with eyes closed; absolute power was obtained every 0.39 Hz. Three subgroups were formed according to children's performance: Group 1 (G1, higher scores than Group 2 in reading speed and reading and writing accuracy), Group 2 (G2, better performance than G1 in composition) and Group 3 (G3, lower scores than Groups 1 and 2 in the three subscales). G3 had higher absolute power in frequencies in the delta and theta range at left frontotemporal sites than G1 and G2. G2 had higher absolute power within alpha frequencies than G3 and G1 at the left occipital site. G3 had higher absolute power in frequencies in the beta range than G1 in parietotemporal areas and than G2 in left frontopolar and temporal sites. G1 had higher absolute power within beta frequencies than G2 in the left frontopolar site. G3 had lower gamma absolute power values than the other groups in the left hemisphere, and gamma activity was higher in G1 than in G2 in frontopolar and temporal areas. This group of children with learning disorders is very heterogeneous. Three subgroups were found with different cognitive profiles, as well as a different electroencephalographic pattern. It is important to consider these differences when planning interventions for children with learning disorders.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a fundamental diagnostic procedure that explores brain function. This manuscript describes the characteristics of a sample of healthy at-term infants. One hundred and three (103) infants from Mexico between 15 days and 12.5 months of age were recorded during physiological sleep. Referential EEG recordings were obtained using linked ear lobes as reference. The amplifier gain was 10,000, the bandwidth was set between 0.3 and 30 Hz, and the sample rate was 200 Hz. Sample windows of 2.56 s were marked for later quantitative analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first dataset of normal infants during the first year of age.

Older adults have difficulties in sentence comprehension when working memory (WM) load increases (e.g., multiple embedded clauses). Structured physical activity has been related to improvements in cognition; however, incidental physical activity (PA, i.e., unstructured daily physical activities), particularly incidental vigorous activity has been poorly studied in relation to its effects on behavior. Furthermore, no positive effect on language has been reported in either form of physical activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate how two levels of PA (high or low) affect WM processing and how this, in turn, may affect morphosyntactic processing in older adults. Individuals with high PA (n = 18) had a higher WM load effect than those with low PA (n = 18), both behaviorally (greater differences between high and low WM loads in correct responses) and in terms of event-related potentials (only subjects with high PA showed LAN and P600b amplitude differences between high and low WM loads). These findings suggest that PA promotes cognitive strategies to face WM loads and morphosyntactic processing.

High levels of physical activity seem to positively influence health and cognition across the lifespan. Several studies have found that aerobic exercise enhances cognition and likely prevents cognitive decline in the elderly. Nevertheless, the association of incidental physical activity (IPA) with health and cognition during aging has not been studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association of IPA level with cognitive functions and resting electroencephalogram (EEG) in healthy old participants. Participants (n = 97) with normal scores on psychometric and neuropsychological tests and normal values in blood analyses were included. A cluster analysis based on the scores of the Yale Physical Activity Scale (YPAS) allowed the formation of two groups: active, with high levels of IPA, and passive, with low levels of IPA. Eyes-closed resting EEG was recorded from the participants; the fast Fourier transform was used offline to calculate absolute power (AP), relative power (RP), and mean frequency (MF) measures. There were no differences in socioeconomic status, cognitive reserve, general cognitive status, or lipid and TSH profiles between the groups. The results of cognitive tests revealed significant differences in the performance variables of the WAIS scores (p = .015), with advantages for the active group. The resting EEG exhibited significantly slower activity involving the frontal, central, and temporal regions in the passive group (p < .05). Specifically, higher delta RP (F7, T3), lower delta MF (F4, C4, T4, T6, Fz, Cz), higher theta AP (C4), higher theta RP (F4, C4, T3, Fz), lower alpha AP (F3, F7, T3), lower alpha RP (F7), and lower total MF (F3, F7, T3, T5, Fz) were found. Altogether, these results suggest that IPA induces a neuroprotective effect, which is reflected both in behavioral and electrophysiological variables during aging.

Reading learning disability (RLD) is characterized by a specific difficulty in learning to read that is not better explained by an intellectual disability, lack of instruction, psychosocial adversity, or a neurological disorder. According to the domain-general hypothesis, a working memory deficit is the primary problem. Working memory in this population has recently been linked to altered resting-state functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontoparietal network (FPN) compared to that in typically developing individuals. The main purpose of the present study was to compare the within-network functional connectivity of the DMN, SN, FPN, and reading network in two groups of children with RLD: a group with lower-than-average working memory (LWM) and a group with average working memory (AWM). All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and data were analyzed from a network perspective using the network brain statistics framework. The results showed that the LWM group had significantly weaker connectivity in a network that involved brain regions in the DMN, SN, and FPN than the AWM group. Although there was no significant difference between groups in reading network in the present study, other studies have shown relationship of the connectivity of the angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobe with the phonological process of reading. The results suggest that although there are significant differences in functional connectivity in the associated networks between children with LWM and AWM, the distinctive cognitive profile has no specific effect on the reading network.

The concept of cognitive reserve explains how the brain maintains function despite age-related changes or neuropathological damage. Factors such as education, cognitive stimulation, and physical activity contribute to strengthening this reserve. While research has highlighted the benefits of structured exercise, less attention has been given to the impact of incidental physical activity (IPA) everyday, unplanned movements like walking or household chores. This study examined the relationship between IPA and the inhibition of automatic responses, a key executive function that tends to decline with age. A total of 59 healthy older adults (mean age = 67; standard deviation = 4.95; range = 60–82; 35 females) were assessed and divided into two groups based on their IPA levels, measured using the Yale Physical Activity Survey. They then completed a Counting-Stroop task, designed to assess inhibitory control, while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to measure brain activity. Behavioral results confirmed the Stroop effect in both groups, with similar patterns observed overall and only one between-group difference during the incongruent condition. ERP analyses revealed greater late negativity as a result of the differences between conditions (1,050–1,200 ms) during the counting-Stroop task in the high-IPA group, suggesting more effective late-stage inhibitory processing post-execution likely related to re-evaluation and resolution of the conflict, while the low-IPA group lacked this effect. Furthermore, distinct neural activity patterns between the conditions were observed for each group as well. The high-IPA group showed differences between congruent and incongruent conditions between 300 and 500 ms, suggesting earlier conflict monitoring, while the low-IPA group exhibited significant differences over frontal areas in the 500–700 ms window, likely suggesting a different strategy for resolving interference. These findings suggest that IPA may enhance executive function by mainly supporting the later stages of inhibitory control mechanisms at a neural level, even when behavioral performance remains comparable. Given its accessibility, IPA may be a valuable strategy to maintain cognitive reserve and promote healthy aging. Future research is necessary to further explore the relationship between IPA and cognition in the context of cognitive reserve.

Children with learning disorders (LD children) often have heterogeneous cognitive impairments that affect their ability to learn and use basic academic skills. A proposed cause for this variability has been working memory (WM) capacity. Altered patterns of event-related potentials (ERPs) in these children have also been found in the N400 component associated with semantic priming. However, regarding the semantic priming effect in LD children, no distinction has been made for children with varying WM abilities. This study aims to explore the relationship of WM with the brain’s electrophysiological response that underlies semantic priming in LD children that performed a lexical decision task. A total of 40 children (8-10 years old) participated: 28 children with LD and 12 age-matched controls. The ERPs were recorded for each group and analyzed with permutation-based t-tests. The N400 effect was observed only in the control group, and both groups showed a late positive complex (LPC). Permutation-based regression analyses were performed for the results from the LD group using the WISC-IV indices (e.g., Verbal Comprehension and WM) as independent predictors of the ERPs. The Verbal Comprehension Index, but not the WM index, was a significant predictor of the N400 and LPC effects in LD children.