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Review
. 2021 Oct 8;22(19):10889.
doi: 10.3390/ijms221910889.

Electroencephalography as a Non-Invasive Biomarker of Alzheimer's Disease: A Forgotten Candidate to Substitute CSF Molecules?

Paloma Monllor  1 , Ana Cervera-Ferri  2 , Maria-Angeles Lloret  3 , Daniel Esteve  1 , Begoña Lopez  4 , Jose-Luis Leon  5 , Ana Lloret  1
Affiliations
Review

Electroencephalography as a Non-Invasive Biomarker of Alzheimer's Disease: A Forgotten Candidate to Substitute CSF Molecules?

Paloma Monllor et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis are crucial in clinical practice. They should be objective and quantifiable and respond to specific therapeutic interventions. Optimal biomarkers should reflect the underlying process (pathological or not), be reproducible, widely available, and allow measurements repeatedly over time. Ideally, biomarkers should also be non-invasive and cost-effective. This review aims to focus on the usefulness and limitations of electroencephalography (EEG) in the search for Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. The main aim of this article is to review the evolution of the most used biomarkers in AD and the need for new peripheral and, ideally, non-invasive biomarkers. The characteristics of the EEG as a possible source for biomarkers will be revised, highlighting its advantages compared to the molecular markers available so far.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis; EEG; alpha wave; cerebral rhythms; complexity; non-invasive biomarkers; synchrony.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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