Browsing by Subject "EEG"
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(2010)Aim: So far, most of the cognitive neuroscience studies investigating the development of brain activity in childhood have made comparisons between different age groups and ignored the individual stage of cognitive development. Given the wide variation in the rate of cognitive development, this study argues that chronological age alone cannot explain the developmental changes in brain activity. This study demonstrates how Piaget's theory and information on child's individual stage of development can complement the age-related evaluations of brain oscillatory activity. In addition, the relationship between cognitive development and working memory is investigated. Method: A total of 33 children (17 11-year-olds, 16 14-year-olds) participated in this study. The study consisted of behavioural tests and an EEG experiment. Behavioral tests included two Piagetian tasks (the Volume and Density task, the Pendulum task) and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices task. During EEG experiment, subjects performed a modified version of the Sternberg's memory search paradigm which consisted of an auditorily presented memory set of 4 words and a probe word following these. The EEG data was analyzed using the event-related desynchronization / synchronization (ERD/ERS) method. The Pendulum task was used to assess the cognitive developmental stage of each subject and to form four groups based on age (11- or 14-year-olds) and cognitive developmental stage (concrete or formal operational stage). Group comparisons between these four groups were performed for the EEG data. Results and conclusions: Both age- and cognitive stage-related differences in brain oscillatory activity were found between the four groups. Importantly, age-related changes similar to those reported by previous studies were found also in this study, but these changes were modified by developmental stage. In addition, the results support a strong link between working memory and cognitive development by demonstrating differences in memory task related brain activity and cognitive developmental stages. Based on these findings it is suggested that in the future, comparisons of development of brain activity should not be based only on age but also on the individual cognitive developmental stage.
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(2022)Language skills are an important asset in the global world, so it is important to promote language learning. Music and language learning have been shown to be interconnected. However, most of the studies have been conducted with adult language learners and in laboratories. This study is an experimental study carried out in natural learning context with intervention paradigm. The aim of the study is to explore whether using a song as a tool in learning second language vocabulary in a bilingual preschool differs from using a nursery rhyme or prose. The null hypothesis is that children in bilingual preschool learn second language vocabulary as well with song as with nursery rhyme or prose. The alternative hypothesis is that children in bilingual preschool learn second language vocabulary better with song than with nursery rhyme or prose. Seven foreign language children from the preschool took part in the study. In study paradigm children were presented in learning phase a Finnish version of a well-known nursery rhyme Simple Simon as continuous stimuli in the form of a nursery rhyme, a song and prose. In EEG test phase they were presented same stimuli with some changes in vowels and syllables and their EEG was recorded. Event-related potentials to those changes were then compared between a nursery rhyme, a song and prose situation. In behavioral testing, children were presented words from the learning material and pseudowords formed from those words. We compared how well the children recognized words in the nursery rhyme (poem), the song and the prose situation. The data were analyzed in both research methods using Wilcoxon signed rank test. The null hypothesis could not be rejected. So, it cannot be stated that second language vocabulary is learned better with song than with nursery rhyme or prose. We detected a difference between the prose and the nursery rhyme stimuli in favor of the prose option measured with EEG. However, the sample size was too small to generalize the results. In discussion the results and used research methods are primarily examined on theoretical level considering previous studies. In conclusion, based on the previous studies, it is feasible to recommend using music in education especially in language learning but also in every phase of life due to music’s positive effects on motivation and togetherness to name but a few.
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(2012)Objectives: According to previous observations, the magnitude of variation in the working memory-related electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha oscillations between different subjects is remarkable. The purpose of this study was (1) to find out whether the standard deviation in the oscillatory responses between subjects and within the subject is greater in the alpha band than in the lower or higher frequencies, (2) to examine individual oscillatory responses of subjects, and (3) to localize the neural sources of working memory encoding and retrieval related alpha synchronization and desynchronization and study the effects of different source localizations to the observed oscillatory responses during an auditory working memory task. Methods: Eighteen subjects performed a modified version of Sternberg's memory search paradigm in which they were auditorily presented memory sets consisting of five words. The subjects' task was to decide whether the probe word was included in the previously presented memory set. EEG was recorded during the task and the data was analyzed using the event-related synchronization/desynchronization (ERS/ERD), clustering, and beamforming methods. Both averaged and individual alpha band event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP), standard deviations of ERSP responses between and within the subjects, power spectra of the subjects, and source localization results of the ERSP responses were examined. Results and conclusions: ERSP responses averaged across the subjects support previous studies: Alpha-band ERS was perceived during the memory encoding and alpha-band ERD during the memory retrieval. Standard deviations of the ERSP responses both in the group and individual level were greater in the alpha band than in the lower or higher frequencies. The individual ERSP responses varied remarkably which is not observed in studies that examine only averaged ERSP responses. Calculating distances between individual and averaged ERSP responses and clustering the obtained values provided important information on the individual variation of these responses. Memory encoding -related alpha ERS and memory retrieval -related alpha ERD sources were localized in the occipital and parietal brain areas when these responses were similar to those obtained via averaging across the subjects. This finding, which is new in connection with auditorily presented stimuli, corresponds to the results of previously conducted visual working memory studies and reveals important general level knowledge of connections between working memory processes and oscillatory EEG responses.
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