Frontal EEG theta/beta ratio as an electrophysiological marker for attentional control and its test-retest reliability

Angelidis, Angelos; van der Does, Willem; Schakel, Lemmy; Putman, Peter · 2016 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.09.008

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Summary

This study investigates the resting-state frontal theta/beta ratio (TBR) as a potential electrophysiological biomarker for attentional control (AC) in healthy adults. While elevated TBR is a well-established marker for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), recent evidence suggests it may also reflect prefrontally-mediated executive control in non-clinical populations. The authors aimed to replicate the negative association between TBR and trait AC, assess the test-retest reliability of TBR over a one-week interval, and determine if TBR measured at one session could predict AC scores at a subsequent session. The researchers recruited 41 young female adults from Leiden University, excluding two participants for psychoactive medication use and one for outlier status, resulting in a final sample of 38 for primary analyses. Participants attended two laboratory sessions separated by one week. In each session, they completed self-report measures for trait anxiety (Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and attentional control (Attentional Control Scale), followed by baseline EEG recordings. The study analyzed average area power densities from frontal electrodes (Fz, F3, F4), calculating TBR as the ratio of theta band (4–7 Hz) to beta band (13–30 Hz) power. Data were log-normalized to address non-normal distributions. The results confirmed a significant negative correlation between frontal TBR and self-reported AC in both sessions, replicating previous findings. Crucially, TBR measured during the first session significantly predicted AC scores during the second session (r = -.44), indicating cross-session predictive validity. The test-retest reliability of TBR was exceptionally high (r = .93), despite a statistically significant increase in TBR values during the second session, which was attributed to increased theta power likely due to participant habituation. These associations remained significant after controlling for trait anxiety and age. No significant correlation was found between TBR and trait anxiety. The findings support the hypothesis that frontal TBR is a stable, trait-like biomarker for prefrontal executive attentional control. The high test-retest reliability and predictive power suggest that TBR could serve as a robust objective measure for cognitive regulation capacities in healthy individuals. This has implications for understanding neural mechanisms underlying emotional regulation and stress resilience, as well as potential clinical applications for assessing executive function deficits. The study provides strong empirical support for using spontaneous EEG metrics to evaluate individual differences in attentional control.

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• executive function