title: Event-related potentials for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the nosological entity of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) constitute a major public health concern. The diagnostic approach and therapeutic management of these disorders may be significantly improved by recent advances in the field of event-related potentials (ERPs).
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors performed a PubMed search in order to identify full-length, original research articles on the experimental and clinical application of ERPs in AD and MCI. The major part of the retrieved articles concerns the application of auditory and, to a lesser extent, visual ERPs for the early diagnosis of AD and MCI. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of ERPs in identifying the subgroup of MCI patients who will subsequently convert to AD. Other areas covered include the contribution of ERPs in the differential diagnosis of dementia types, the utility of ERPs for monitoring pharmacological treatment in AD and the correlation between ERPs and the results of neuropsychological testing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reviewed evidence suggests that ERPs hold promise as an electrophysiological tool for the early and accurate diagnosis of AD and MCI. However, certain methodological issues need to be resolved before ERPs enter the arena of clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Neurology III, George Papanicolaou Hospital , 57010 Exokhi, Thessaloniki , Greece +302313307333, +30 2310 99 23 59 ; +2313307331 ; kimiskid@med.auth.gr.
authors.forename: Vasilios K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Kimiskidis
authors.forename: Vasileios T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Papaliagkas