Date Approved

2024

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department or School

Psychology

Committee Member

Renee Lajiness-O’Neill, PhD

Committee Member

Angela D. Staples, PhD

Committee Member

Jamie M. Lawler, PhD

Committee Member

Seth Warschausky, PhD

Abstract

Healthy development of executive functioning (EF) provides an important foundation for emotional and behavioral regulation as well as academic success. Preschool is a time of rapid EF development, making this a target age group for identifying and intervening on EF weaknesses. Since EF has been historically difficult to behaviorally measure in preschoolers, the current study explores neural correlates of EF as another method by which to understand its development. The goal of the present study is to explore associations between resting state electroencephalography (EEG) power (i.e., theta, alpha, beta) and EF ability in preschool and examine how early regulatory ability affects this later association. Thirty-seven 4-year-old children who previously participated in the PediaTracTM longitudinal study were recruited for the current study, in which they completed behavioral measures of EF ability (n = 37) and resting-state EEG data collection (n = 34). Age-related decreases in theta power were found but expected increases in alpha and beta power were not, suggesting that decreases in theta may be the first indication of developmental changes in EEG power. No unified EF construct was found in the current study, highlighting the difficulty conceptualizing and assessing EF in preschool. Furthermore, performance on measures of EF was not related to resting state EEG power, nor did EEG power mediate the association between early regulatory functioning and preschool EF performance. In the future, this study can be extended by including additional EEG metrics (e.g., coherence, connectivity) and exploring longitudinal trajectories of EF and resting-state EEG development to provide a foundational understanding of the neural correlates of typical EF development.

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