title: Theta-power differences in patients with mild cognitive impairment under rest condition and during haptic tasks.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate spectral EEG theta-power during perceptive-cognitive demands in age-homogeneous groups of subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild dementia (MDE), and a healthy control (CO) group. The present study includes 51 subjects (23 males, 28 females). We used the scales of the CDR (clinical dementia rating) to assign the subjects to the different groups. EEG data were collected during 10 minutes rest condition with eyes closed and during haptic perception test. The quality of the haptic reproductions differed significantly between CO and MCI, as well as between CO and MDE. The statistical comparison between EEG theta-power under rest condition and theta-power during haptic tasks revealed a significant decrease in theta-power during haptic tasks in all three groups over parieto-occipital regions. During haptic tasks, the theta-power was significantly different between CO and MDE over occipital regions and over parieto-temporal regions. A significant difference between CO and MCI was only revealed over right occipital regions (O2). Spectral theta-power during haptic tasks is a suitable measure to distinguish healthy subjects (CO) from patients with MCI respectively MDE. The results show that haptic tasks are sensitive to early perceptive-cognitive and functional deficits in patients with MCI.
authors.affiliation: University of Leipzig, Department of Psychiatry, EEG-Research Laboratory and Memory Clinic, Leipzig, Germany. mgrun@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grunwald
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Busse
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hensel
authors.forename: Steffi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Riedel-Heller
authors.forename: Frithjof
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kruggel
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arendt
authors.forename: Hendrike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Herman-Josef
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Gertz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D013236:Stereognosis / Q000502:physiology; D013826:Theta Rhythm