Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan;62(1):e14757.
doi: 10.1111/psyp.14757.

Associations Among EEG Aperiodic Slope, Infant Temperament, and Maternal Anxiety/Depression Symptoms in Infancy

Dashiell D Sacks  1   2 , April R Levin  3   4 , Charles A Nelson  5   6   7 , Michelle Bosquet Enlow  1   2
Affiliations

Associations Among EEG Aperiodic Slope, Infant Temperament, and Maternal Anxiety/Depression Symptoms in Infancy

Dashiell D Sacks et al. Psychophysiology. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

The aperiodic "slope" of the EEG power spectrum (i.e., aperiodic exponent, commonly represented as a slope in log-log space) is hypothesized to index the cortical excitatory-inhibitory balance. Slope has been associated with various neurodevelopmental outcomes in older children and adults, as well as with family history of ADHD in infants. Here, we investigate associations among EEG aperiodic slope, temperament, and maternal internalizing (anxiety and depression) symptoms in a large cohort of typically developing infants. A steeper slope was associated with higher scores on the temperament domains of orienting/regulation and surgency but was not associated with negative affectivity. Maternal symptoms did not appear to be directly associated with the slope, but the slope moderated the association between maternal symptoms and temperament. Specifically, a steeper slope was associated with a stronger negative association between maternal internalizing symptoms and infant orienting/regulation. These results demonstrate associations between slope and behavior as early as infancy, which may reflect early differences in the development of global inhibitory networks. Longitudinal research in early childhood is necessary to better understand the nature of these relations during development and their potential impact on later socioemotional outcomes.

Keywords: EEG; aperiodic slope; infancy; maternal anxiety; maternal depression; temperament.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A) Mean parameterized power spectrum (whole scalp average) for the sample. B) Distribution of the aperiodic exponent for each participant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Moderating effect of infant exponent on association between maternal anxiety symptoms and infant orienting/regulation. Conditional effects at −1SD, Mean, +1SD. Larger exponent indicates steeper slope.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Floodlight analysis for the moderating effect of infant exponent on the association between maternal anxiety symptoms and infant orienting/regulation. Johnson-Neyman Point denotes the value of exponent at which the association between maternal anxiety symptoms and infant orienting/regulation becomes significant.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Moderating effect of infant exponent on association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant orienting/regulation. Conditional effects at −1SD, Mean, +1SD. Larger exponent indicates steeper slope.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Floodlight analysis for the moderating effect of infant exponent on the association between maternal anxiety symptoms and infant orienting/regulation. Johnson-Neyman Point denotes the value of exponent at which the association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant orienting/regulation becomes significant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aktar E, & Bögels SM (2017). Exposure to Parents’ Negative Emotions as a Developmental Pathway to the Family Aggregation of Depression and Anxiety in the First Year of Life. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev, 20(4), 369–390. 10.1007/s10567-017-0240-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bowman LC, McCormick SA, Kane-Grade F, Xie W, Bosquet Enlow M, & Nelson CA (2022). Infants’ neural responses to emotional faces are related to maternal anxiety. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 63(2), 152–164. 10.1111/jcpp.13429 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Boyce WT (2016). Differential Susceptibility of the Developing Brain to Contextual Adversity and Stress. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(1), 142–162. 10.1038/npp.2015.294 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Casalin S, Luyten P, Vliegen N, & Meurs P (2012). The structure and stability of temperament from infancy to toddlerhood: A one-year prospective study. Infant Behavior and Development, 35(1), 94–108. - PubMed
    1. Chang O, Huh K, Savoy CD, Krzeczkowski JE, & Van Lieshout RJ (2024). Associations between maternal postpartum depression and infant temperament in treatment-seeking mothers prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dev Psychopathol, 36(2), 495–503. 10.1017/s0954579422001353 - DOI - PubMed