Single-channel electroencephalographic recording in children with developmental coordination disorder: Validity and influence of eye blink artifacts

Background: The NeuroSky single-channel, dry-electrode, and wireless electroencephalographic (EEG) recording system is a fairly new measure of mental status, the validity of which had not yet been tested in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
Purpose: To examine the validity of the NeuroSky single-channel EEG recording device (Mindwave Mobile EEG headset and NeuroView data acquisition software) and investigate the influence of eye blink artifacts on EEG attention-meditation measurements in children with DCD.
Methods: Thirty-seven children with DCD (with or without attention deficits) participated in the study. Validity was assessed primarily by correlating the EEG-derived attention and meditation indices with scores on other mental status measures (duration of gaze fixation and Movement Assessment Battery for Children bicycle/flower trial item score) in the DCD-attentive group and then comparing the EEG-derived attention and meditation indices of the DCD-attentive group (n = 20) with those of the DCD-inattentive group (n = 17) and among the frequent-blinking (7-8 eye blinks/trial), moderate-blinking (5-6 eye blinks/trial), and rare-blinking (3-4 eye blinks/trial) groups.
Results: The EEG-derived attention index was correlated with the duration of gaze fixation (r = 0.648, p = 0.002) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children bicycle/flower trial item score (r = -0.688, p = 0.001). A significant difference in the attention index was found between the DCD-attentive group and DCD-inattentive group (p = 0.003), but no significant results were found for the EEG-derived meditation index. With regard to eye blinks, no significant differences in the EEG-derived attention or meditation indices were noted between the three blinking groups (p = 0.887).
Conclusion: The single-channel EEG device accurately measured the overall level of mental attention in children with DCD clinically and was not significant influenced by eye blinking. This portable device has potential utility in such children for whom ease of use is the first priority. Copyright © 2015 Fong SSM, et al.