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Co-Increasing Neuronal Noise and Beta Power in the Developing Brain

Wei HeiD, Thomas DonoghueiD, Paul F. SowmaniD, Robert A. SeymouriD, Jon BrockiD, Stephen CrainiD, Bradley VoytekiD, Arjan HillebrandiD

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Abstract

Accumulating evidence across species indicates that brain oscillations are superimposed upon an aperiodic 1/f - like power spectrum. Maturational changes in neuronal oscillations have not been assessed in tandem with this underlying aperiodic spectrum. The current study uncovers co-maturation of the aperiodic component alongside the periodic components (oscillations) in spontaneous magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. Beamformer-reconstructed MEG time-series allowed a direct comparison of power in the source domain between 24 children (8.0 {+/-} 2.5 years, 17 males) and 24 adults (40.6 {+/-} 17.4 years, 16 males). Our results suggest that the redistribution of oscillatory power from lower to higher frequencies that is observed in childhood does not hold once the age-related changes in the aperiodic signal are controlled for. When estimating both the periodic and aperiodic components, we found that power increases with age in the beta band only, and that the 1/f signal is flattened in adults compared to children. These results suggest a pattern of co-maturing beta oscillatory power with the aperiodic 1/f signal in typical childhood development.

Abstract summary

Claude Opus 5.5 · xhigh effort · 18 Oct 2026 · from the abstract

Once the aperiodic 1/f component is modelled, the childhood shift of MEG power toward higher frequencies no longer holds; only beta power rises with age, alongside a flatter spectrum.

Studies of childhood development report a redistribution of oscillatory power from lower to higher frequencies, but band power also contains the aperiodic 1/f-like background, which itself changes with age. Estimating the periodic and aperiodic parts together in source-reconstructed magnetoencephalography (MEG) from children and adults leaves a beta-band increase as the only oscillatory change, accompanied by a flatter aperiodic spectrum in adults.

Key results

  1. SuggestedThe reported childhood migration of power from low to high frequencies does not survive adjustment for the aperiodic background.

    Source-domain comparison of beamformer-reconstructed spontaneous MEG between 24 children (8.0 ± 2.5 years, 17 males) and 24 adults (40.6 ± 17.4 years, 16 males); no effect sizes or test statistics are given in the abstract. · Abstract

  2. SuggestedWith both components estimated, the beta band is the only one whose power increases with age.

    Reported across the same two groups; band limits, the fitting procedure and per-band statistics are not stated. · Abstract

  3. SuggestedThe aperiodic spectrum itself matures: adults show a flatter 1/f signal than children.

    Flattening is reported alongside the beta increase, which the authors read as co-maturation of oscillatory and aperiodic activity; no slope or exponent values are given. · Abstract

Methods, data and reproducibility

Spontaneous MEG was source-reconstructed with a beamformer, and the resulting spectra were separated into oscillatory (periodic) and aperiodic 1/f-like components so that age-related differences in band power could be compared with the aperiodic background accounted for.

  • spontaneous MEG recordings, beamformer source-reconstructed, child group · human · n = 24 children (8.0 ± 2.5 years, 17 males)
  • spontaneous MEG recordings, beamformer source-reconstructed, adult group · human · n = 24 adults (40.6 ± 17.4 years, 16 males)
Methods & tools
magnetoencephalography (MEG), beamformer source reconstruction
Reproducibility gaps
The abstract names no code, recordings or spectral-parameterization software, and does not state the frequency bands or the fitting range used to separate periodic from aperiodic components.
Limitations (2)
  • Groups are small, 24 per group, and the adults span a wide age range (40.6 ± 17.4 years), so this contrasts two age bands rather than tracing a developmental trajectory. · noted in this summary
  • No effect sizes, test statistics or band definitions are reported, and the procedure used to fit the periodic and aperiodic components is not named. · noted in this summary

Read this if you compare oscillatory power across ages or groups in MEG or EEG and need to know how much of the difference the aperiodic 1/f component accounts for.

Citations
73

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