Oscillatory gamma activity mediates the pathway from socioeconomic status to language acquisition in infancy
Abstract
Background The predictable path to child language acquisition is largely constrained by both brain maturation and environmental experience. The synchronized activity of large numbers of neurons gives rise to macroscopic brain oscillations on an electroencephalogram (EEG). It has been found that neural oscillations at rest in the gamma frequency band (25-45 Hz) are associated with development of different cognitive systems, including language. Although the etiology of language is explained by genetically driven brain maturation factors, environment plays a significant role. Specifically, candidate pathways from environment to language development include sociodemographic factors, primarily socioeconomic status (SES) which is likely to exert its effects on language development through other factors, such as parenting style. Despite these assumptions, no studies have so far examined the interrelation between brain maturation factors such as gamma frequency oscillatory activity, environmental factors such as SES, and language acquisition. Aim and method In a longitudinal study of 84 Italian typically developing infants, we measured the power of oscillatory gamma activity as mediator between SES and language acquisition. Baseline EEG and information about SES were collected when infants were aged 6 months. Children were followed-up longitudinally to measure expressive vocabulary and Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) at 24 months. Results The mediation model showed that SES is associa…
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Absolute gamma is sensitive to early family experiences among young children in HIC contexts, such as low socioeconomic status and early maternal stress.
“Further, absolute gamma is sensitive to early family experiences among young children in HIC contexts, such as low socioeconomic status (Cantiani et al. 2019;Tomalski, Moore, and Ribeiro 2013) and early maternal stress (Pierce, Thompson, and Gharib 2019).”
From Early Family Experiences and Neural Activity in Rural Pakistani Children: The Differential Role of Gender (2024) · cites this paper as Cantiani et al. 2019
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Required sample size to detect the mediated effect
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Structural inequality and temporal brain dynamics across diverse samples
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- Authors
- Cantiani, C., Piazza, C., Mornati, G., Molteni, M., & Riva, V.
- Affiliations
- IRCCS Eugenio Medea (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Cantiani, Chiara
- Venue
- Infant Behavior and Development
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-11
- Volume
- 57
- Pages
- 101384
- ISSN
- 0163-6383 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2980284625
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 8.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Infant Behavior and Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- BOA (University of Milano-Bicocca) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Italian Ministry of Health
- 5 per mille
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Keywords
- gamma oscillations, socioeconomic status, language acquisition, infant language development, expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance, mediation, brain maturation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Child Development, Electroencephalography, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Infant, Italy, Language, Language Development, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Social Class, Vocabulary, Parenting, Young Adult, Gamma Rhythm
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