Brain marker behind aggression in some young children identified

New York, September 26 If your toddler is often involved in playing with other children, do not give him a rough idea, as scientists are now reporting a brain marker associated with aggression in some children.

The findings could lead to identifying young children who are at risk for aggressive behavior and could help stem those impulses before adolescence – an age at which research has shown that aggressive behavior is harder to deal with.

In a new study, a team of researchers led by the University of Iowa identified a brain marker associated with aggression in toddlers.

Research has shown that in experiments measuring a type of brainwave, toddlers who had lower peaks in the P3 brainwave face a change of situation were more aggressive than children recording larger peaks.

"Children respond differently to the same social cues, and we think this is due to differences in the way they interpret this information, whether it is neutral or hostile," said Isaac Petersen, Assistant Professor, Department of Science. psychological and cerebral.

"And when children are not able to detect a change in social cues, they may be more likely to misinterpret this social index than hostile rather than playful," said Petersen.

The P3 wave is part of a series of brainwaves generated when an individual evaluates and reacts to a change in the environment, for example changes in benchmarks in a social interaction .

Previous research, mainly in adults, has shown that individuals with shorter P3 wavelengths when they are facing a change in the environment tend to be more aggressive.

Scientists believe that P3 is a key indicator of aggression, as well as depression and schizophrenia.

In the study of 153 infants, the difference between P3 peaks in aggressive and non-aggressive children "was statistically significant," said Petersen, and the effect was the same for boys and the girls.

The researchers tested the same children at the age of 30, 36 and 42 months to further explore the association with P3 brainwave and aggression.

"This brain marker has not been widely studied in children and has never been studied in early childhood in relation to aggression," noted Petersen.

"It could be one of the many tools that can be used in the future to detect the risk of aggression that may not show up during behavioral screening," he said. adds the research in an article published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

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na / sed