Schedule of Events | Symposia

The effects of adverse childhood experiences on alpha wave reactivity using EEG

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Emily Stripling¹ (emily.stripling@bruins.belmont.edu), Kristie Stephens², Dara Olopade³, Aram Akbari, Emma Chacon, Karlie Souder, Liam Fienberg, Smyth Harper, Michael Oliver; ¹Belmont University

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as traumatic events occurring before the age of 18. Previous research suggests that ACEs are associated with cognitive issues and long-term brain alterations (Boullier & Blair, 2018). As such, it is possible that brain changes associated with ACEs may be detectable by investigating brain activity at rest. For example, alpha reactivity, or the difference in alpha activity from eyes closed to open, has been associated with stress, cognitive impairment (Scally, et al., 2018) and cholinergic system integrity (Schumacher et al., 2020). Therefore, it is hypothesized that individuals reporting ACEs will have reduced alpha reactivity compared to those without ACEs. ​In this study, 32 individuals (14 with ACEs, 18 without ACEs) between the ages of 18-30, had resting state eyes open and eyes closed brain activity recorded for 5 minutes each with the lights off. Once complete, participants answered demographic information and the ACEs questionnaire through Qualtrics. Results revealed no differences in eyes open alpha power between those with and without ACEs; however, individuals with ACEs displayed higher alpha power (13Hz) compared to individuals without ACEs (9Hz) in eyes closed. Alpha power around 9Hz has been associated with deep relaxation with minimal cognitive load. Although alpha power around 13Hz has also been associated with relaxation, it further reflects an alert, active, and attentionally-ready resting state. As such, it is possible that the presence of ACEs is associated with experiential neuroplastic changes in the brain that can be detected using resting state EEG.

Topic Area: METHODS: Electrophysiology