Effect of animal behavior on EEG microstates in healthy children: An outdoor observation task.

This article investigates the effects of observing animal behavior on the brain activity of healthy children aged 6–7 years using electroencephalogram (EEG) microstate analysis combined with source localization. The study found that during outdoor animal observation tasks, children's EEG microstate parameters—reflecting functional brain networks related to auditory-language processing, visual attention, and higher-order cognition—showed significant dynamic changes compared to resting states. Specifically, increased activation was observed in the frontal and temporal lobes, while activity in the insula decreased after animal observation. These findings provide objective neurophysiological insights into how naturalistic animal interactions influence children's brain function and may have implications for educational strategies and animal-assisted interventions.