AUTHOR=Moretti Davide V., paternicò donata , Binetti Giuliano , Zanetti Orazio , Frisoni giovanni b. TITLE=EEG upper/low alpha frequency power ratio relates to temporo-parietal brain atrophy and memory performances in mild cognitive impairment JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience VOLUME=5 YEAR=2013 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2013.00063 DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2013.00063 ISSN=1663-4365 ABSTRACT=

Objective: Temporo-parietal cortex thinning is associated to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer disease (AD). The increase of EEG upper/low alpha power ratio has been associated with AD-converter MCI subjects. We investigated the association of alpha3/alpha2 ratio with patterns of cortical thickness in MCI.

Materials and Methods: Seventy-four adult subjects with MCI underwent clinical and neuropsychological evaluation, electroencephalogram (EEG) recording and high resolution 3D magnetic resonance imaging. Alpha3/alpha2 power ratio as well as cortical thickness was computed for each subject. Three MCI groups were detected according to increasing tertile values of upper/low alpha power ratio. Difference of cortical thickness among the groups was estimated. Pearson’s r was used to assess the topography of the correlation between cortical thinning and memory impairment.

Results: High upper/low alpha power ratio group had total cortical gray matter volume reduction of 471 mm2 than low upper/low alpha power ratio group (p < 0.001). Upper/low alpha group showed a similar but less marked pattern (160 mm2) of cortical thinning when compared to middle upper/low alpha power ratio group (p < 0.001). Moreover, high upper/low alpha group had wider cortical thinning than other groups, mapped to the Supramarginal and Precuneus bilaterally. Finally, in high upper/low alpha group temporo-parietal cortical thickness was correlated to memory performance. No significant cortical thickness differences was found between middle and low alpha3/alpha2 power ratio groups.

Conclusion: High EEG upper/low alpha power ratio was associated with temporo-parietal cortical thinning and memory impairment in MCI subjects. The combination of EEG upper/low alpha ratio and cortical thickness measure could be useful for identifying individuals at risk for progression to AD dementia and may be of value in clinical context.