Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We investigated whether event-related potentials (ERP) collected in outpatient settings and analyzed with standardized methods can provide a sensitive and reliable measure of the cognitive deficits associated with early Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODS: A total of 103 subjects with probable mild AD and 101 healthy controls were recruited at seven clinical study sites. Subjects were tested using an auditory oddball ERP paradigm.

RESULTS: Subjects with mild AD showed lower amplitude and increased latency for ERP features associated with attention, working memory, and executive function. These subjects also had decreased accuracy and longer reaction time in the target detection task associated with the ERP test.

DISCUSSION: Analysis of ERP data showed significant changes in subjects with mild AD that are consistent with the cognitive deficits found in this population. The use of an integrated hardware/software system for data acquisition and automated data analysis methods make administration of ERP tests practical in outpatient settings.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2015

Notes/Citation Information

Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, v. 1, issue 4.

© 2015 The Authors

This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2015.08.004

Funding Information

P.M.D. has received grants from and served as advisor to companies in this field, including Neuronetrix. He also owns stock in several health care/ technology companies whose products are not discussed here. He is coinventor on a diagnostic patent that is unlicensed.

Related Content

Description of supplemental fig. 1 (available for download as the first additional file listed at the end of this record):

Differences in ERP amplitude for standard, target, and distractor stimuli in mild AD versus HC subjects. Topographies are represented in 100-ms averages going forward. Abbreviations: ERP, event-related potentials; AD, Alzheimer's disease; HC, healthy control.

dad2jdadm201508004-sup-0001.pptx (292 kB)
Supplemental fig. 1

dad2jdadm201508004-sup-0002.docx (56 kB)
Supplemental table 1

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