A study on the relationship between non-epileptic fast (40 – 200 Hz) oscillations in scalp EEG and development in children

Objective: Physiological gamma and ripple activities may be linked to neurocognitive functions. This study investigated the relationship between development and non-epileptic, probably physiological, fast (40–200 Hz) oscillations (FOs) including gamma (40 – 80 Hz) and ripple (80 – 200 Hz) oscillations in scalp EEG in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Methods: Participants were 124 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Gamma and ripple oscillations were explored from 60-second-long sleep EEG data in each subject using a semi-automatic detection tool supplemented with visual confirmation and time–frequency analysis. Results: Gamma and ripple oscillations were detected in 25 (20.2%) and 22 (17.7%) children, respectively. The observation of one or more occurrence(s) of ripple oscillations, but not gamma oscillations, was significantly related to lower age at EEG recording (odds ratio, OR: 0.727 [95% confidence interval, CI: 0.568–0.929]), higher intelligence/developmental quotient (OR: 1.041, 95% CI: 1.002–1.082), and lack of a diagnosis with ADHD (OR: 0.191, 95% CI: 0.039 – 0.937) according to a binominal logistic regression analysis that included diagnosis with ASD, sex, history of perinatal complications, history of febrile seizures, and use of a sedative agent for the EEG recording as the other non-significant parameters. Diagnostic group was not related to frequency or power of spectral peaks of FOs. Conclusion: The production of non-epileptic scalp ripples was confirmed to be associated with brain development and function/dysfunction in childhood. Further investigation is necessary to interpret all of the information on higher brain functions that may be embedded in scalp FOs.