Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early prognosis of high-risk older adults for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), using noninvasive and sensitive neuromarkers, is key for early prevention of Alzheimer's disease. We have developed individualized measures in electrophysiological brain signals during working memory that distinguish patients with aMCI from age-matched cognitively intact older individuals.
OBJECTIVE: Here we test longitudinally the prognosis of the baseline neuromarkers for aMCI risk. We hypothesized that the older individuals diagnosed with incident aMCI already have aMCI-like brain signatures years before diagnosis.
METHODS: Electroencephalogram (EEG) and memory performance were recorded during a working memory task at baseline. The individualized baseline neuromarkers, annual cognitive status, and longitudinal changes in memory recall scores up to 10 years were analyzed.
RESULTS: Seven of the 19 cognitively normal older adults were diagnosed with incident aMCI for a median 5.2 years later. The seven converters' frontal brainwaves were statistically identical to those patients with diagnosed aMCI (n = 14) at baseline. Importantly, the converters' baseline memory-related brainwaves (reduced mean frontal responses to memory targets) were significantly different from those who remained normal. Furthermore, differentiation pattern of left frontal memory-related responses (targets versus nontargets) was associated with an increased risk hazard of aMCI (HR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.03, 2.08).
CONCLUSION: The memory-related neuromarkers detect MCI-like brain signatures about five years before diagnosis. The individualized frontal neuromarkers index increased MCI risk at baseline. These noninvasive neuromarkers during our Bluegrass memory task have great potential to be used repeatedly for individualized prognosis of MCI risk and progression before clinical diagnosis.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-19-2021
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200931
Funding Information
Supported by the United States National Institute of Health R56AG060608-01, P30AG028383, and by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy DE-AC05- 00OR22725.
Related Content
The datasets of the present study are available from the corresponding author on request.
Repository Citation
Jiang, Yang; Li, Juan; Schmitt, Frederick A.; Jicha, Gregory A.; Munro, Nancy B.; Zhao, Xiaopeng; Smith, Charles D.; Kryscio, Richard J.; and Abner, Erin L., "Memory-Related Frontal Brainwaves Predict Transition to Mild Cognitive Impairment in Healthy Older Individuals Five Years before Diagnosis" (2021). Behavioral Science Faculty Publications. 57.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/behavsci_facpub/57
Included in
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Geriatrics Commons, Neurology Commons, Statistics and Probability Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, v. 79, no. 2.
© 2021 The authors
This article is published online with Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0).