What Next? Unpacking Anticipatory EEG Oscillations in Auditory, Tactile and Visual Modalities: Relations with Behavior and Executive Function in Children and Adults

Abstract

Anticipation refers to preparation for upcoming events in the environment (Clark, 1998; Ondobaka & Bekkering, 2007; Allen & Friston, 2016). The ability to anticipate – as manifested in the preparatory actions and neural activation in expectation of an upcoming target stimulus – may play a key role in the development of cognitive skills. In the current study, cognitive skills are specified as the execution of stimulus-relevant, goal-directed actions (as indexed by reaction time) and individual differences in the ability to use goals to direct action (as indexed by executive function measures). A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in 40 adults and 40 6- to 8-year-old children to examine the association of neural correlates of anticipatory attention to visual, tactile and auditory stimuli with inter- and intra-individual variation in executive function (EF) abilities. Consistent with prior findings (Weiss, Meltzoff, & Marshall, 2018), the sensorimotor mu rhythm in the alpha range of the EEG signal was suppressed in the contralateral hemisphere during anticipation of tactile stimulation, with the extent of this suppression being related to children’s performance on EF tasks. Within-subject relations were also found between lateralized EEG modulation and single-trial reaction time responses to target stimuli. This relation was evident for visual and tactile stimuli (but not auditory stimuli) and was more prominent in adults than children. Further, these relations were responsible for significant variance in executive function scores using a multi-level model. Results indicated that inter-individual differences in anticipatory sensorimotor mu modulation (not visual alpha or auditory tau rhythms) contributed to the significant association with executive function variability. I discuss anticipatory EEG oscillations as an empirical, quantifiable indicator of stimulus prediction, advancing anticipation as a bridge concept embedded in neuroscientific, behavioral, computational and developmental science.