Semantic future thinking and executive functions at age 4: The moderating role of frontal brain electrical activity.

Previous studies provide conflicting results regarding the relation between future thinking and executive functioning during early childhood. Furthermore, little is known of the neural mechanisms involved in future thinking during early childhood. We examined the moderating role of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) activity on the relation between executive functioning and semantic future thinking performance in a sample of 4-year-old children. Our results suggest that frontal EEG moderates the relation between executive functioning and semantic future thinking performance, but only for medium to high levels of frontal EEG power values. These results provide emerging evidence regarding the role of both executive functioning and frontal brain electrical activity on semantic future thinking in 4-year-olds.