Bakardjian, H. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2026

Episodic memory ERPs reflect preclinical Alzheimers disease progression

Structured AbstractO_ST_ABSBackgroundC_ST_ABSAlzheimers disease (AD) neuropathology emerges decades before symptoms, requiring sensitive, non-invasive markers for early diagnosis. We investigated behavioural and EEG markers of episodic memory in cognitively normal older adults at-risk for AD. MethodsForty-five INSIGHT-preAD cohort participants (15 progressors to prodromal AD, 15 stable {beta}-amyloid positive [A{beta}+] participants, 15 controls [A{beta}-]) completed an Old/New word recognition task during high-density EEG. Behavioural performance and memory-related evoked-related potentials (ERPs; P3, FN400, P600, post-retrieval monitoring) were analysed longitudinally over 5 years. ResultsProgressors showed significantly reduced accuracy, sensitivity, and slower responses. They showed attenuated FN400, P600, and monitoring amplitudes over left parieto-occipital regions. Source analysis revealed hypoactivation in the left inferior frontal and right posterior cingulate cortex, across components with additional disruption during P600. Stable A{beta}+ individuals showed milder P600 hypoactivations. DiscussionBehavioural and ERP alterations preceded clinical decline, supporting EEG-based markers of episodic memory decline for preclinical AD risk stratification.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Theta band-power shapes amyloid-driven longitudinal EEG changes in pre-clinical Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimers Disease (AD) includes progressive symptoms spread along a continuum of pre-clinical (pre-AD) and clinical stages. Pre-AD refers to cognitively healthy individuals with presence of positive pathophysiological biomarkers of AD (i.e., markers of amyloidopathy and tauopathy). Although numerous studies uncovered the neuro-cognitive changes of AD, very little is known on the natural history of brain lesions and modifications of brain networks of pre-AD. To address this issue, we analysed resting-state EEG data of 318 cognitively healthy individuals with subjective memory complains from the INSIGHT-preAD cohort at the time of their first visit (M0) and two-years later (M24). Using 18F-florbetapir PET-scanner, subjects were stratified between amyloid positive (A-; n=230) and amyloid negative (A+; n=88) groups. Differences between A+ and A- individuals were estimated at source level in each band of the EEG power spectrum. At M0, we found an increase of theta-band power in the mid-frontal cortex in A+ compared to A-. No significant association was found between mid-frontal theta power and the individuals cognitive performance. While the very same effect was not replicated at M24, theta-band power increased in A+ relative to A- individuals in the posterior cingulate cortex and the pre-cuneus. Furthermore, alpha band revealed a peculiar decremental trend in posterior brain regions in the A+ relative to the A- group only at M24. These results provide the first source-level longitudinal evidence on the impact of brain amyloidosis on the EEG dynamics of a large-scale, monocentric cohort of pre-AD. Theta-band power increase over the mid-frontal and mid-posterior cortices suggests an hypoactivation of the default-mode network in individuals at-risk of AD and a non-linear longitudinal progression of the AD-spectrum.

neuroscience↗