Frontal bilateral synchronous theta waves and the resting EEG coherence in children aged 7–8 and 9–10 with learning difficulties

The resting state cortical functional connectivity was studied in children of 7–8 (N = 29) and 9–10 (N = 23) years with learning difficulties whose EEG showed the frontal bilateral synchronous theta waves (FTW) and in the control children of 7–8 (N = 32) and 9–10 (N = 16) years who did not experience school difficulties and whose EEG did not show signs of abnormality. The functional connectivity was estimated in the θ, α₁, α₂, and β₁ frequency bands via measuring the coherence for the resting EEG that was free from any abnormal patterns. Compared to control children, there was a reduction in the strength of the functional coupling between the frontal and anterior temporal cortices found predominantly in the left hemisphere of FTW children. The relative weakness of the coupling between the frontal cortex and the other cortical areas was more pronounced in children of 7–8 than in children of 9–10 years. These between-group differences were unaffected by the frequency band or gender factors.