J Appl Biomed 21:113-120, 2023 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2023.013

Resting-state EEG alpha rhythm spectral power in children with specific language impairment: a cross-sectional study

Nina Stanojević^{1, 2, *}, Saška Fatić^{1, 2}, Ljiljana Jeličić^{1, 2}, Vanja Nenadović², Miodrag Stokić³, Ružica Bilibajkić¹, Miško Subotić¹, Tatjana Bošković Matić⁴, Ljubica Konstantinović^{5, 6}, Dragana Ćirović^{5, 7}

¹ Research & Development Institute "Life Activities Advancement Institute", Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Belgrade, Serbia

² Institute for Experimental Phonetics and Speech Pathology "Đorđe Kostić", Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia

³ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Belgrade, Serbia

⁴ University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University Clinical Center, Kragujevac, Serbia

⁵ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia

⁶ Clinic for Rehabilitation "Dr Miroslav Zotovic", Belgrade, Serbia

⁷ University Children's Hospital, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Belgrade, Serbia

Purpose: This study investigated EEG alpha rhythm spectral power in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and compared it to typically developing children to better understand the electrophysiological characteristics of this disorder. Specifically, we explored resting-state EEG, because there are studies that point to it being linked to speech and language development.

Methods: EEG recordings of 30 children diagnosed with specific language impairment and 30 typically developing children, aged 4.0-6.11 years, were carried out under eyes closed and eyes open conditions. Differences in alpha rhythm spectral power in relation to brain topography and experimental conditions were calculated.

Results: In the eyes closed condition, alpha rhythm spectral power was statistically significantly lower in children with specific language impairment in the left temporal (T5) and occipital electrodes (O1, O2) than in typically developing children. In the eyes open condition, children with SLI showed significantly lower alpha rhythm spectral power in the left temporal (T3, T5), parietal (P3, Pz), and occipital electrodes (O1, O2). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in relation to the relative change (the difference between average alpha rhythm spectral power during eyes closed condition and average alpha rhythm spectral power during eyes open condition divided by average alpha rhythm spectral power during eyes closed condition) in the alpha rhythm spectral power between the conditions.

Conclusion: Lower alpha rhythm spectral power in the left temporal, left, midline parietal, and occipital brain regions could be a valuable electrophysiological marker in children with SLI. Further investigation is needed to examine the connection between EEG alpha spectral power and general processing and memory deficits in patients with SLI.

Keywords: Alpha rhythm; EEG; Specific language impairment

Grants and funding:

This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia within the project “Influence of psychophysiological, sociological, and cultural factors on speech and language in the child population”. The project was conducted in cooperation with the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Kragujevac.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors declare that they have no relevant or material financial interest related to the research described in this study.

Received: April 10, 2023; Revised: July 31, 2023; Accepted: September 13, 2023; Prepublished online: September 18, 2023; Published: September 22, 2023  Show citation