EEG Theta Power Is an Early Marker of Cognitive Decline in Dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease

TY - JOUR

T1 - EEG Theta Power Is an Early Marker of Cognitive Decline in Dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease

AU - Musaeus, Christian Sandøe

AU - Engedal, Knut

AU - Høgh, Peter

AU - Jelic, Vesna

AU - Mørup, Morten

AU - Naik, Mala

AU - Oeksengaard, Anne Rita

AU - Snaedal, Jon

AU - Wahlund, Lars Olof

AU - Waldemar, Gunhild

AU - Andersen, Birgitte Bo

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Background: Quantitative EEG (qEEG) power could potentially be used as a diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may further our understanding of the pathophysiology. However, the early qEEG power changes of AD are not well understood. Objective: To investigate the early changes in qEEG power and the possible correlation with memory function and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. In addition, whether qEEG power could discriminate between AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and older healthy controls (HC) at the individual level. Methods: Standard EEGs from 138 HC, 117 MCI, and 117 AD patients were included from six Nordic memory clinics. All EEGs were recorded consecutively before the diagnosis and were not used for the consensus diagnosis. Absolute and relative power was calculated for both eyes closed and open condition. Results: At group level using relative power, we found significant increases globally in the theta band and decreases in high frequency power in the temporal regions for eyes closed for AD and, to a lesser extent, for MCI compared to HC. Relative theta power was significantly correlated with multiple neuropsychological measures and had the largest correlation coefficient with total tau. At the individual level, the classification rate for AD and HC was 72.9% for relative power with eyes closed. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the increase in relative theta power may be the first change in patients with dementia due to AD. At the individual level, we found a moderate classification rate for AD and HC when using EEGs alone.

AB - Background: Quantitative EEG (qEEG) power could potentially be used as a diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may further our understanding of the pathophysiology. However, the early qEEG power changes of AD are not well understood. Objective: To investigate the early changes in qEEG power and the possible correlation with memory function and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. In addition, whether qEEG power could discriminate between AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and older healthy controls (HC) at the individual level. Methods: Standard EEGs from 138 HC, 117 MCI, and 117 AD patients were included from six Nordic memory clinics. All EEGs were recorded consecutively before the diagnosis and were not used for the consensus diagnosis. Absolute and relative power was calculated for both eyes closed and open condition. Results: At group level using relative power, we found significant increases globally in the theta band and decreases in high frequency power in the temporal regions for eyes closed for AD and, to a lesser extent, for MCI compared to HC. Relative theta power was significantly correlated with multiple neuropsychological measures and had the largest correlation coefficient with total tau. At the individual level, the classification rate for AD and HC was 72.9% for relative power with eyes closed. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the increase in relative theta power may be the first change in patients with dementia due to AD. At the individual level, we found a moderate classification rate for AD and HC when using EEGs alone.

KW - Alzheimer's disease

KW - dementia

KW - diagnostic

KW - EEG

KW - mild cognitive impairment

KW - power

U2 - 10.3233/JAD-180300

DO - 10.3233/JAD-180300

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29991135

AN - SCOPUS:85051343198

SN - 1387-2877

VL - 64

SP - 1359

EP - 1371

JO - Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

JF - Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

IS - 4

ER -