Chronic home radon exposure impacts the development of oscillatory dynamics serving visuospatial attention

Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can accumulate to hazardous levels in homes. While previous work has shown that environmental toxicants negatively impact neurodevelopment, little is understood about how radon may affect critical cognitive functions like visuospatial attention, which is subserved by multispectral neural oscillatory dynamics across the developmentally-sensitive attention networks. This study explored the effects of chronic home radon exposure on the developmental trajectories of oscillatory dynamics serving visuospatial attention in youths. We recruited 118 youths aged 8-to-15 years-old to complete a visuospatial attention task during magnetoencephalography. Families completed a home radon test, and inattention and hyperactivity symptoms were measured using a self-report questionnaire. We found functionally relevant radon-related aberrations to beta dynamics within the left inferior frontal (IFG) and superior temporal gyrus. In both regions, children with higher radon exposure exhibited stronger beta responses as a function of age, which predicted slower reaction times. Age-related strengthening of beta responses in the IFG was also correlated with lesser attentional symptomology. These results suggest aberrant developmental trajectories of neural processing as a function of increasing radon exposure in critical attention regions, which may indicate compensatory activity to sustain performance and improve attentional stability despite chronic environmental insult.