title: Profiles of brain magnetic activity during a memory task in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in non-demented elderly subjects, with or without depression.
abstract: The presence of depression is common among the elderly and it often complicates the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we searched for brain activity measures that characterise AD. We compared brain magnetic activity profiles during a memory task, obtained from patients with AD, elderly patients with late onset depression, and age matched volunteers without history of neurological or psychiatric disease. AD patients showed significantly reduced activity in left temporal lobe regions during late portions of the event related magnetic response (400 ms or later after stimulus onset), compared with both groups of patients who did not present with serious cognitive decline. This finding highlights the potential usefulness of MEG protocols supporting the differential diagnosis of AD and major depression related cognitive decline in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Magnetoencephalography Center Dr Pérez Modrego, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. cmeg@rect.ucm.es
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maestú
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Simos
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: López-Ibor
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Campo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Criado
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Palancas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferre
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ortiz
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology