Alzheimers disease

Increased EEG gamma band activity in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment

J. A. van Deursen, E. F. P. M. Vuurman, F. R. J. Verhey, V. H. J. M. van Kranen-Mastenbroek, and W. J. Riedel

Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, P•O. Box 616, 6200 Maastricht, The Netherlands

Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Maastricht University Hospital, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Neural Transm. 2008 September; 115(9): 1301–1311. Published online 2008 July 8. doi: 10.1007/s00702-008-0083-y. PMCID: 2525849 Copyright © The Author(s) 2008

Abstract

High frequency (30–70 Hz) gamma band oscillations in the human electro-encephalogram (EEG) are thought to reflect perceptual and cognitive processes. It is therefore interesting to study these measures in cognitive impairment and dementia. To evaluate gamma band oscillations as a diagnostic biomarker in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 15 psychoactive drug naïve AD patients, 20 MCI patients and 20 healthy controls participated in this study. Gamma band power (GBP) was measured in four conditions viz. resting state, music listening, story listening and visual stimulation. To evaluate test–retest reliability (TRR), subjects underwent a similar assessment one week after the first. The overall TRR was high. Elevated GBP was observed in AD when compared to MCI and control subjects in all conditions. The results suggest that elevated GBP is a reproducible and sensitive measure for cognitive dysfunction in AD in comparison with MCI and controls.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2525849