Theta brain waves and child development 

Theta brain waves and child development 

By DeMaris Richardson ECU’21 and Jim Stellar

Picture this: You’re a 9-year-old coming in after an exhausting day of fourth grade. You throw your bag down and plop on the couch. Slowly, your eyes get heavy, your heart rate starts to slow, and the sweat beating down your forehead from the walk home starts to dry. Finally, you’re falling asleep, and the world seems to melt away with each passing minute.

Now, consider at that moment what is going on in your head. Look past the thoughts of how great that couch feels hugging you or how mesmerizing the aroma of mom’s dinner smells on the stove. What is going on in the pathways of your brain? Do you think a simple action like lying on the sofa could send signals that could predict what your IQ will be years down the line? Could resting theta waves do that?

Childhood is a critical period when the brain undergoes massive development and has much more plasticity in the formation of its neural connections than in adulthood. In this blog, we explore the effect of childhood poverty on the development of one of the most prominent indicators of cognitive function, resting theta-wave brain activity. But first, what is a brain wave?

What are brainwaves?

Going back to basics, each time you move a muscle, blink, or plop on the couch, your brain sends billions of electrical signals to communicate your action or desired action from one part of the brain to another. The electrical impulses from all those neurons firing are called brain waves. Brain waves are the aggregate sum of the electrical activity of neurons and even glia (supportive) cells under that part of the skull from which they are recorded. These brain waves are measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG) forming patterns that can reflect mood and behavior and learning. That may explain why that nap on the couch becomes a daily habit.

It is significant to note that these brain waves come in various frequencies. Think of the fast buzz of the crowd at a football game awaiting its start. This is much different from the slower, bigger sound waves generated when the audience is chanting “Go Team!” when the game gets to its peak. This analogy represents the different wave frequencies further depicted in the figure below.

The advantage of these brainwaves to researchers trying to understand brain function is that they are fast, happening at the speed of thinking at around 4-8 times per second. The disadvantage is that they are remote from the site of recording and so we are not sure specifically from where they were generated. A solution may be in a technique of hyper processing of the EEG signal called electrocorticography (ECoG). For example, when it comes to monitoring the EEG data of someone moving one finger vs another, the recording would likely not yield any significant location data. In this case, the ECoG can provide the sufficient information to decode. So there is hope this technique can be used in the future.

How are Theta-waves unique?

Going back to theta waves, they have a slower frequency cycle falling between 4-8 cycles per second as shown in the figure above and researchers are currently delving into their potential to indicate cognitive functioning, analyze sleep patterns, and even facilitate brain-computer interfaces. The fascinating discovery that theta waves can indicate cognitive functioning in children has significantly inspired us to write this blog on how theta waves can open new avenues for understanding how children learn and process information and that underscores the importance of neuroscience in educational strategies and child development.

Through the research that DR is now engaged with at Columbia university, as discussed below, theta brainwaves are seen to be associated with children’s memory, learning, and emotional processing. Interestingly, it’s normal in development for children to have theta waves during wakefulness and rest until age 13, and importantly, theta waves have been found to predict cognitive outcomes in children that persist into adulthood. Although theta wave production when falling asleep, sleeping, or generally being in a relaxed state is appropriate in children, an excess of theta wave production while being in this restful state could, for example, indicate cognitive functioning issues resulting in a diagnosis such as ADHD.

Theta-Waves in Childhood and the Effects of Poverty

Research shows that there are correlations between the levels of theta waves produced in children experiencing poverty and those from more affluent socioeconomic backgrounds. Youth from lower socioeconomic statuses were generally more likely to produce excessive levels of theta wave power while resting. In comparison, youth from more affluent backgrounds produced a higher level of alpha waves, ultimately having more balanced theta waves. These higher levels of alpha waves may indicate the ability to learn and retain information as a neurotypical individual would. Having a theta wave biomarker may help in uncovering the root causes of these differences could hold the key to achieving genuine educational equity, although addressing them may pose significant challenges.

DR’s reflections

From my other work (not at Columbia) as a case manager with children growing up in the foster care system whose families predominantly come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, I noticed that children experiencing poverty often have less time/motivation for education tasks due to familial responsibilities. Inversely these youths’ guardians are usually too consumed with making sure basic childhood needs are met to spend additional time with their youth doing brain-stimulating tasks such as completing homework. Moreover, most parents may not have the educational exposure to know how to best support their child in completing the previously mentioned task. Also, these youth may get lower amounts of sleep due to the anxieties of possibly living in a shelter, unsafe neighborhood, or not having a secure environment within their own home. Finally, a lack of nutritional balance could also influence all of the previous brain and body development factors including the level of theta waves being produced.

While scholars possess the ability to delve into the psychological impacts of early adversities on the neurological health of children, it remains to be seen whether the underlying causes of these neurodevelopmental variances in such youths will ever be comprehensively understood not only because of the unique experience growing up in a foster care setting or experiencing poverty presents but also due to the disconnect between these communities and researchers.

Conclusion

The study of resting theta brain waves in the lab in which I (DR) am working on at Columbia, cognition, and child development not only provides insight into the complex processes that drive cognitive function but also holds promise for achieving fairer educational results by providing compelling biomarkers to go along with behavioral observations. This area of research not only highlights the significance of early childhood environments but also emphasizes the potential for developing targeted strategies that could alleviate the lasting impacts on socioeconomic inequalities of likely reversible basic brain function and cognitive outcomes.

Stay tuned for our next blog post, where we will delve deeper into this subject of the implications of these discoveries and explore how they can be utilized to enrich learning experiences and bolster cognitive development in children.