title: Diagnosis and assessment of dementia using functional brain imaging.
abstract: Functional brain imaging using computer-analyzed electroencephalography was performed in 40 subjects: 15 with mild-to-moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), 13 with mild-to-moderate multi-infarct dementia (MID), and 12 age-matched controls. We examined three different parameters of brain electrical activity in these subjects: absolute slow-wave power, proportional power in all frequency bands, and ratios of high-frequency/low-frequency electrical activity (so-called "spectral ratios"). Spectral ratios were significantly more powerful in discriminating among groups than the other measures. Functional images using spectral ratios revealed that subjects with DAT have a characteristic left temporo-parietal defect which clearly distinguished them from subjects with MID and from control subjects. The severity of dementia was best assessed by examining absolute slow-wave power, which had the strongest linear correlation with mental status testing. Serial images from one subject with DAT over 3 years demonstrate both quantitative and qualitative shifts in slow-wave activity in the course of DAT. The study suggests that functional imaging may be more useful than either simple EEG or computer-analyzed EEG in assessing and diagnosing patients with suspected dementia.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Leuchter
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Walter
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D015161:Dementia, Multi-Infarct / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*