RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Age differences in aperiodic neural activity measured with resting EEG
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.08.31.458328
DO 10.1101/2021.08.31.458328
A1 Ashley Merkin
A1 Sabrina Sghirripa
A1 Lynton Graetz
A1 Ashleigh E. Smith
A1 Brenton Hordacre
A1 Richard Harris
A1 Julia Pitcher
A1 John Semmler
A1 Nigel C. Rogasch
A1 Mitchell Goldsworthy
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/01/2021.08.31.458328.abstract
AB Previous research using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) has shown that neural oscillatory activity within the alpha band (8-12 Hz) becomes slower and lower in amplitude with advanced age. However, most studies have focused on quantifying age-related differences in periodic oscillatory activity with little consideration of the influence of aperiodic activity on these measures. The aim of this study was to investigate age differences in aperiodic activity inherent in the resting EEG signal. We assessed aperiodic activity in 85 healthy younger adults (mean age: 22.2 years, SD: 3.9, age range: 18–35, 37 male) and 92 healthy older adults (mean age: 66.1 years, SD: 8.2, age range 50–86, 53 male) by fitting the 1/f-like background activity evident in EEG power spectra using the fitting oscillations & one over f (FOOOF) toolbox. Across the scalp, the aperiodic exponent and offset were smaller in older compared to younger participants, reflecting a flatter 1/f-like slope and a downward broadband shift in the power spectra with age. Before correcting for aperiodic activity, older adults showed slower peak alpha frequency and reduced peak alpha power relative to younger adults. After correcting for aperiodic activity, peak alpha frequency remained slower in older adults; however, peak alpha power no longer differed statistically between age groups. The large sample size utilized in this study, as well as the depth of analysis, provides further evidence that the aperiodic component of the resting EEG signal is altered with aging and should be considered when investigating neural oscillatory activity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.