Developmental variation in resting-state EEG spectral correlates of response inhibition in children and adolescents

Identifying electrophysiological markers of response inhibition in children and adolescents is of substantial importance. Although previous studies have examined associations between resting-state electroencephalography (rs-EEG) power and response inhibition, findings across frequency bands have been inconsistent, and evidence regarding band-ratio indices remains limited. To address these issues, the present study examined the associations between rs-EEG spectral indices and response inhibition in a large sample of 1654 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years, and further tested whether these associations varied as a function of age. Based on eyes-open rs-EEG recordings, relative power was extracted for the delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands, and three band-ratio indices were calculated: the theta/beta ratio (TBR), alpha/theta ratio (ATR), and beta/theta ratio (BTR). Response inhibition was assessed using the stop-signal task. Correlation analyses showed that higher delta power, theta power, and TBR were associated with poorer response inhibition, whereas higher alpha power, beta power, ATR, and BTR were associated with better response inhibition. Moderation analyses further indicated that age significantly moderated the associations of delta power, beta power, ATR, and BTR with response inhibition, whereas no significant age-moderating effects were observed for theta power, alpha power or TBR. Taken together, these findings suggest that the electrophysiological correlates of response inhibition are developmentally dynamic across childhood and adolescence. The present study provides a psychophysiological account of developmental variation in response inhibition and underscores the importance of age when interpreting resting-state EEG-behavior associations.