TITLE:
EEG Characteristics of Adolescents Raised in Institutional Environments and Their Relation to Psychopathological Symptoms
AUTHORS:
Jorge Carlos Hevia-Orozco, Araceli Sanz-Martin
KEYWORDS:
Adolescents, Institutionalization, EEG Activity, Depression, Anxiety
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science,
Vol.8 No.10,
September
30,
2018
ABSTRACT: Children reared in institutional environments present emotional and cognitive affectations, as well as changes in the anatomy and functioning of certain cerebral areas, such as the prefrontal cortex. However, knowledge of the long run effect of these affectations remains scarce. Therefore, this study was designed to correlate the cortical electroencephalographic (EEG) and psychopathological parameters. Resting EEG from 10 institutionalized (IA) and 10 never-institutionalized adolescents (NIA) was obtained and this was parametrically correlated with the intensity of symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety. Results showed that the IA group showed higher indices of depression, anxiety and PTSD, accompanied by low relative power (RP) in the fast bands, high activity in the slow bands in frontal areas, and higher alpha2 RP in temporal areas. In addition, IA showed higher EEG-correlations among frontal areas but lower EEG-correlations among prefrontal, parietal and temporal areas in the gamma band. We also found correlations between the EEG parameters and psychopathological scores. These EEG findings can contribute to improve our understanding of how stress experienced early in life may impact the development of the cortex, and how this, in turn, may predispose individuals to develop psychiatric conditions.