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Neural oscillations evolve during development in parallel to changes in cognition and brain structure, making their study central to understanding brain development (Cellier et al., 2021; Smit et al., 2011; Uhlhaas et al., 2010). To date, developmental research on oscillations has primarily used scalp-EEG (cf. Johnson et al., 2022; Yin et al., 2020). However, scalp-EEG does not access medial brain regions, such as those known to be critical to memory, and offers low spatial resolution (e.g., Ofen et al., 2019). To overcome these limitations, the current preregistration capitalizes on a unique opportunity to analyse EEG data recorded directly from the brains of neurosurgical patients being invasively monitored for seizure management. Intracranial EEG (iEEG) provides unparalleled access to the human brain with millisecond temporal and millimetre spatial resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio traditionally limited to animal neurophysiology (Johnson et al., 2020; Johnson & Knight, 2015; Ofen et al., 2019; Parvizi & Kastner, 2018). With seizure activity removed, iEEG represents healthy neural activity (Liu & Parvizi, 2019; Rossini et al., 2017). This preregistration aims to map human brain development by leveraging rare paediatric and adult iEEG recordings. Using task-based (i.e., attention to to-be-remembered visual stimuli) and task-free (i.e., resting-state) data from approximately 90 iEEG patients aged 5-55 years, we will map functional brain development in high definition by quantifying oscillatory (periodic) and aperiodic signatures of brain activity across the human cortex. By recording directly from medial temporal and prefrontal cortices, a recent landmark study revealed that there is a speeding up and slowing down of two distinct theta oscillations from age 5 to 21 years (Johnson et al., 2022). However, while this dissociation in theta oscillations mirrors both the structural maturation of the cortex and developmental improvements in cognition (e.g., memory, attention), it was not found to be directly associated with developmental differences in memory performance. As argued by the authors, differentiation of theta oscillations in key memory structures may reflect a core aspect of brain development. To comprehensively test this proposal, this preregistration examines lifespan variability in oscillatory peaks across the 1-30 Hz spectrum, across the cortex, across task-based and task-free contexts, and in a large sample size. Aperiodic signals will also be examined to model “background” neural activity, which indexes excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance, and is often ignored in developmental work and has only recently gained traction in adult work (e.g., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky et al., 2022; Cross et al., 2022; Ouyang et al., 2020; Waschke et al., 2021). For example, the aperiodic slope is associated with healthy aging compared to age-related cognitive decline (Merkin et al., 2023), and thus may be a critical marker of brain development (Schaworonkow & Voytek, 2021). The aperiodic component is also characterised by its spectral offset, with a higher offset correlated with increased neuronal population spiking (Manning et al., 2009; Miller et al., 2012), as well as the BOLD signal (Jacob et al., 2021; Winawer et al., 2013). Additionally, structural MRI data – specifically regional grey matter volume – will be correlated with age-related changes in regional peak oscillatory and aperiodic activity, as well as memory performance. Taken together, this study will develop a comprehensive, neurobiologically informed model of human cortical development by combining task-based and task-free neural activity from iEEG, quantifying their relationship with memory outcomes and brain structure, and tracking developmental differences from childhood to late middle adulthood.

1Beneath the Banner: Being Narratives of Noble Lives and Brave Deeds

By Frederick J. Cross

In this book are over 30 stories by various people about men and women who have done extraordinary things during and often before the time when similar products were invented. It is suitable for bedtime reading. Summary by Lynda Marie Neilson

Songs of Love and Life by Zora Cross was a phenomenon in the author's native Australia in 1917. The original privately-published edition quickly sold out, and an expanded edition was produced a month later. Its erotic content, a rejection of old Victorian values, along with anti-war and feminist themes, catapulted the then 27-year-old Cross to the forefront of Australian poets. She was lauded and praised, but slowly fell into disfavor. Here we present the expanded version of her book, with the addition of four poems dropped from the privately-printed edition, which appear at the end of the recording. - Summary by cavaet<br /><br />Proof-listeners: AudreyL1, zavaa01, cavaet

Published in 1918, Zora Cross’s book of poems, The Lilt of Life, was her third book of verse, and, like her earlier works, largely focused on her experiences of love, erotic entanglements (notably from a woman’s point of view), and motherhood. Many of the poems are written as an homage to her then-husband, David McKee Wright, whom she met while writing for The Bulletin, where Wright was her editor, causing a significant scandal in Sydney literary circles. - Summary by Elise Dee

4Beneath the Banner (version 2)

By Frederick J. Cross

The subtitle of this book, "Being Narratives of Noble Lives and Brave Deeds" defines the author's choice of notable figures of history to celebrate in short biographical vignettes. The heroes include lesser known champions to more notable figures from David Livingston to the Duke of Wellington; from Father Damien to Florence Nightingale. - Summary by Larry Wilson