title: Relationship among diffusion tensor imaging, EEG activity, and cognitive status in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease patients.
abstract: Magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can detect microstructural alterations by means of fractional anisotropy (FA) in patients with dementia, also in relation to cognitive status. The present study aimed at investigating the possible relation among white matter damage in DTI, quantitative electroencephalography (EEG) spectral power, and cognitive status in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. Forty-seven subjects (8 moderate AD, 18 mild AD, 12 MCI, and 9 healthy controls) underwent brain MR, neuropsychological evaluation, and resting EEG recording. A progressive increase of EEG delta and theta spectral power was observed from controls to patients, mainly in more anterior areas, with a parallel widespread decrease of beta power. Moreover, a progressive decrease of FA from controls to patients in frontal areas and in the corpus callosum (genu) was observed. Correlation analyses indicated convergence among EEG rhythms changes, DTI values, and cognitive status mainly over anterior areas. The decrease of FA values and EEG spectral power changes might represent markers of neurodegenerative dysfunction, possibly preceding macrostructural atrophy.
authors.affiliation: Unitá di Neurologia, Universitá Campus Bio-Medico, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scrascia
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Curcio
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ursini
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trotta
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quintiliani
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Migliore
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Altamura
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pitocco
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Altavilla
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Melgari
authors.forename: Carlo Cosimo
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Quattrocchi
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vernieri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016037:Single-Blind Method
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; brain activity; dementia; diffusion tensor imaging; mild cognitive impairment