The Influence of Educational and Entertainment Videos on Children’s Frontal EEG Activity: A Case Study

The frontal regions of the brain are crucial for cognitive functions such as decision-making and emotional regulation. Understanding how these regions respond to different visual stimuli is essential for advancing our understanding of childhood cognitive development, especially in human interaction. The study of brain wave patterns, such as the P100 wave, in children provides valuable insights into cognitive processes and the brain development of the younger population, particularly when investigating frontal channels. The P100 wave plays a crucial role in visual processing and attention allocation in children. In this study, a cohort of 20 nine-year-old children, including 8 girls and 12 boys, was recruited. The experiment involved presenting 14 videos on a computer for 15 s, interspersed with periods of a neutral screen. The primary objective was to assess the influence of these videos on brain wave activity. Initially, surveys were administered to parents and then to the children to understand habits, preferences, and academic performance. Subsequently, Muse device data were correlated with survey information. Studies indicate that alpha band activity is linked to visual processing and attention maintenance, while theta band activity is associated with memory consolidation and increased cognitive engagement, especially in human interaction. The research highlights significant disparities in brain responses between entertainment and educational videos, emphasizing the positive impact of engaging content and interactive experiences on the activation of frontal regions. Additionally, the analysis of the P100 component revealed a greater prominence in response to entertainment videos compared to educational ones.