Long-term stability in children's frontal EEG alpha asymmetry between 14-months and 83-months.

In the present study, we investigated the test-retest stability of resting state alpha asymmetry in 18 children (9 male and 9 female) in a longitudinal design. Children's resting state brain activation asymmetries were assessed by means of EEG first after 14 months of age, and again a second time at 83 months of age, and frontal (AsymF), temporal (AsymT), and parietal (AsymP) alpha activation asymmetries were calculated. Analyses demonstrate positive relations between frontal asymmetry scores at 14 and 83 months of age. Temporal and parietal asymmetries did not show this stability over time. This finding provides further support for the use of frontal alpha asymmetry measures to investigate processes underlying emotion and motivation in childhood, and its stability over time.