title: Brain responses to surprising sounds are related to temperament and parent-child dyadic synchrony in young children.
abstract: This study investigated the relationship between temperament characteristics, parent-child dyadic synchrony and auditory event-related potentials (ERP) in 15 two-year-old children. Temperament was assessed with the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire, and parent-child dyadic synchrony was analyzed from video-taped play situations. Involuntary switching of attention toward surprising sounds was measured with auditory ERPs by quantifying the P3a response for repeated and nonrepeated novel, naturally varying sounds, presented in a continuous repetitive sound sequence. Lower negative emotionality, higher effortful control and higher dyadic synchrony were associated with larger P3a responses to repeated novel sounds. The results demonstrate that temperament is related to P3a responses in early childhood, and that parent-child synchrony associates with both temperament and P3a responses in a theoretically meaningful way.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. anukatriina.pesonen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Anu-Katriina
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pesonen
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huotilainen
authors.forename: Kati
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heinonen
authors.forename: Niina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komsi
authors.forename: Vesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Putkinen
authors.forename: Lauri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kivikoski
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tervaniemi
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology*; D014741:Video Recording