Microstates reflect rapid changes in neural activity with specific scalp topographies. Microstates have been colloquially referred to as the "atoms of thought" and temporal properties of microstates are thought to be associated with mental health and cognition. However, little work has characterized the longitudinal developmental changes and associations with behavior across the infancy and middle childhood period. In this study, we examined developmental changes of microstates from infancy through age 7 years (N = 383 with at least one time point of usable electroencephalography data, 52.2% male, 78.0% white) in a sample of typically developing children. Further, we examined associations of microstates with child temperament and psychopathology symptoms. Results provide evidence for complex age by sex by microstate number interactions for each of the microstate temporal features (occurrence, duration, coverage, and global explained variance). Moreover, individual differences in microstates were of relevance to temperament traits. Overall, results point to microstates being an informative marker of brain development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Kelsey et al. (Mon,) studied this question.