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

J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2008 Sep;115(9):1301-11. doi: 10.1007/s00702-008-0083-y. Epub 2008 Jul 8.

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis
  • Alzheimer Disease / physiopathology*
  • Auditory Perception / physiology
  • Biomarkers
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology*
  • Cognition Disorders / diagnosis
  • Cognition Disorders / physiopathology*
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Electroencephalography* / methods
  • Electromyography
  • Evoked Potentials / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nerve Net / physiopathology
  • Neurons / physiology
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Up-Regulation / physiology
  • Visual Perception / physiology

Substances

  • Biomarkers