Aberrant oscillatory activity in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: An EEG study of resting state and working memory

Background Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder commonly associated with impaired cognitive function. Despite the well-explored functional roles of neural oscillations in neurotypical populations, only a limited number of studies have investigated oscillatory activity in the NF1 population. Methods We compared oscillatory spectral power and theta phase coherence in a paediatric sample with NF1 (N=16; mean age: 13.03 years; female: n=7) to an age/sex-matched typically-developing control group (N=16; mean age: 13.34 years; female: n=7) using electroencephalography measured during rest and during working memory task performance. Results Relative to typically-developing children, the NF1 group displayed higher resting state slow wave power and a lower peak alpha frequency. Moreover, higher theta power and frontoparietal theta phase coherence were observed in the NF1 group during working memory task performance, but these differences disappeared when controlling for baseline (resting state) activity. Conclusions Overall, results suggest that NF1 is characterised by aberrant resting state oscillatory activity that may contribute towards the cognitive impairments experienced in this population. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03310996 (first posted: October 16 2017).