Analysis on the Resting Brain of Children from Urban and Rural Areas using Electroencephalogram

The environmental factors influencing lifestyle and upbringing of children play a crucial role in their brain development. However, there is limited research focusing on the brain of children living in both urban and rural areas. Hence, this study aims to analyze resting electroencephalogram signals using the power ratio technique. Subjects aged 7 to 12 years have participated in the study. 21 children are from the urban area of Shah Alam, while another 20 are from the rural area of Pulau Tuba. Resting electroencephalogram is recorded for a duration of 2 minutes. The signal is pre-processed and filtered from unwanted noise. Energy spectral density for the alpha band is extracted and normalized through power ratio technique. The alpha ratio of children for both urban and rural areas are visualized through box plots. Results show that children from urban Shah Alam are more composed and relaxed compared to those of the rural Pulau Tuba. These suggest that the resting brain state pattern of children from the rural areas may be attributed to their exploratory personality shaped by environment, upbringing, and lifestyle.