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. 2013 Dec 5:7:188.
doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00188. eCollection 2013.

Increase of theta frequency is associated with reduction in regional cerebral blood flow only in subjects with mild cognitive impairment with higher upper alpha/low alpha EEG frequency power ratio

Davide V Moretti  1 , Annapaola Prestia  1 , Giuliano Binetti  1 , Orazio Zanetti  1 , Giovanni B Frisoni  1
Affiliations

Increase of theta frequency is associated with reduction in regional cerebral blood flow only in subjects with mild cognitive impairment with higher upper alpha/low alpha EEG frequency power ratio

Davide V Moretti et al. Front Behav Neurosci. .

Abstract

Background: Several biomarkers have been proposed for detecting Alzheimer's disease (AD) in its earliest stages, that is, in the predementia stage. In an attempt to find noninvasive biomarkers, researchers have investigated the feasibility of neuroimaging tools, such as MRI, SPECT as well as neurophysiological measurements using EEG. Moreover, the increase of EEG alpha3/alpha2 frequency power ratio has been associated with AD-converters subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Objective: To study the association of alpha3/alpha2 frequency power ratio with regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes in subjects with MCI.

Methods: Twenty-seven adult subjects with MCI underwent EEG recording and perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) evaluation. The alpha3/alpha2 frequency power ratio was computed for each subject. Two groups were obtained according to the median values of alpha3/alpha2, at a cut-off of 1.17. Correlation between brain perfusion and EEG markers were detected.

Results: Subjects with higher alpha3/alpha2 frequency power ratio showed a constant trend to a lower perfusion than low alpha3/alpha2 group. The two groups were significantly different as about the hippocampal volume and correlation with the theta frequency activity.

Conclusion: There is a complex interplay between cerebral blood flow, theta frequency activity, and hippocampal volume in MCI patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease, characterized by higher EEG alpha3/alpha2 frequency power ratio.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; EEG; SPECT; alpha3/alpha2 frequency ratio; mild cognitive impairment.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SPECT visual rating. The output shows a SPECT visual inspection of glucose uptake metabolism: the white square denotes an area of mild-to-moderate (purple to blue) temporparietal hypometabolism in one of the 14 at low risk and in one of the 13 at high risk MCI patient respect to one of the 17 enrolled controls.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histograms of the perfusion W scores distribution in at low and at high risk patients for hippocampal complex (left column) and temporal (right column) ROIs. Generally, for at high risk MCIs, perfusion scores are attested on lower values than at low risk patients. Black curve is the approximation to the normal distribution. X axis represents perfusion W scores while Y axis depicts the number of patients (frequency) for each W score.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pearson r correlations between EEG theta rhythm and hippocampal complex perfusion in patients at low risk to develop AD.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pearson r correlations between EEG theta rhythm and hippocampal complex perfusion in patients at high risk to develop AD.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Pearson r correlations between EEG theta/gamma frequency ratio and temporal ROI perfusion in patients at high risk to develop AD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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