Neural signatures of adverse childhood experiences : the role of alpha and theta spectral dynamics and phase coherence in cognitive processing

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can permanently alter neurological structure and function, increasing the risks for a multitude of health issues. Here, we used auditory Go/NoGo and selective attention paradigms to explore the effects of ACE exposure, type of ACE, and subjective rating of the impact of the ACE(s) on the Error-related Negativity, N100, and N200 event-related potentials (ERPs). We calculated Event-Related Spectral Perturbation (ERSP) and Intertrial Coherence (ITC) at frontal sites on both alpha and theta frequency bands for these ERPs. We found that ERSP and ITC across frequency bands were associated with ACEs, such that when ERSP and ITC decreased, ACE exposure increased across dimensions. Our findings show that spectral power and phase synchrony are disrupted on alpha and theta frequency bands as a likely product of childhood adversity. These disruptions during response inhibition tasks suggest deficits in cognitive control at different stages of the information processing stream.