Beta Responses in Healthy Elderly and in Patients With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment During a Task of Temporal Orientation of Attention.
Recent studies demonstrated that beta oscillations are elicited during cognitive processes. To investigate their potential as electrophysiological markers of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), we recorded beta EEG activity during resting and during an omitted tone task in patients and healthy elderly. Thirty participants were enrolled (15 patients, 15 healthy controls). In particular, we investigated event-related spectral perturbation and intertrial coherence indices. Analyses showed that ( a) healthy elderly presented greater beta power at rest than patients with aMCI patients; ( b) during the task, healthy elderly were more accurate than aMCI patients and presented greater beta power than aMCI patients; ( c) both groups showed qualitatively similar spectral perturbation responses during the task, but different spatiotemporal response patterns; and ( d) aMCI patients presented greater beta phase locking than healthy elderly during the task. Results indicate that beta activity in healthy elderly differs from that of patients with aMCI. Furthermore, the analysis of task-related EEG activity extends evidences obtained during resting and suggests that during the prodromal phase of Alzheimer's disease there is a reduced efficiency in information exchange by large-scale neural networks. The study for the first time shows the potential of task-related beta responses as early markers of aMCI impairments.
1 Department of Neurology, Center for AD Diagnosis and Care, Cannizzaro Hospital, Catania, Italy.
Giuseppe
G
Caravaglios
2 Local Health Department of Catania, Semi-residential Center for Dementia of Acireale, Acireale (CT), Italy.
Giuseppe
G
Castro
1 Department of Neurology, Center for AD Diagnosis and Care, Cannizzaro Hospital, Catania, Italy.
Emma Gabriella
EG
Muscoso
3 Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.|4 Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.
Davide
D
Crivelli
3 Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.|4 Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.
Michela
M
Balconi
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012146:Rest
ERS/ERD; aging; beta oscillations; intertrial coherence; mild cognitive impairment