Intra-individual determinants of neural oscillation phenomena: A study of fundamental system interactions - Project Summary Neural oscillations play a critical role in efforts to derive objective markers of neuropsychiatric disorders, treatment monitoring, and outcome. In ADHD, for instance, theta-beta ratio (TBR) is used as an index of hypo- arousal in an FDA-cleared diagnostic aid, alpha (8-12Hz) power in assessment of inattention, and spectral slope, in particular flattening, as an indicator of interference from neural noise. Yet, the predictive power of these metrics is debated, in part due to sample heterogeneity. Emerging studies point to a second critical but sparsely examined factor, measurement heterogeneity, with evidence suggesting contributions of arousal to spectral slope, and motoric activation (e.g., fidgeting) to alpha power. The current project tackles this problem by (i) deploying multi-sensor measurements that concurrently capture objective measures of arousal (heart rate/variability, galvanic skin response, pupil metrics), motor activation (body, limb, and head displacement & variability) and neural oscillations, and (ii) sampling these measures repeatedly in the same individual over a period of 6 months to capture within-subject variation corresponding to system interactions. Using these data, we aim to (1) identify the role of motor and arousal system contributions to variability in neural oscillations (TBR, alpha power, spectral slope), and (2) determine the role of motor and arousal signals in the prediction of behavioral outcomes from neural oscillations. The outcomes of this project will speak to whether reconsideration is warranted of dominant interpretations (neural noise, hypo-arousal, visual attention) of neural oscillations, and will model an approach of nesting within-subject designs in addressing individual variability questions. The project is aligned with a patient-centered, precision-neuroscience framework, that aims to enhance precision of biomarker discovery.
