Visually Entrained Theta Oscillations Increase for Unexpected Events in the Infant Brain

Infants form basic expectations about their physical and social environment, as indicated by their attention toward events that violate their expectations. Yet little is known about the neuronal processing of unexpected events in the infant brain. Here, we used rhythmic visual brain stimulation in 9-month-olds (N = 38) to elicit oscillations of the theta (4 Hz) and the alpha (6 Hz) rhythms while presenting events with unexpected or expected outcomes. We found that visually entrained theta oscillations sharply increased for unexpected outcomes, in contrast to expected outcomes, in the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram. Visually entrained alpha oscillations did not differ between conditions. The processing of unexpected events at the theta rhythm may reflect learning processes such as the refinement of infants’ basic representations. Visual brain-stimulation techniques provide new ways to investigate the functional relevance of neuronal oscillatory dynamics in early brain development.