Neuroimaging Features of Adults With and Without Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), a condition in which the memory functions of cognition are significantly impaired, is an established risk factor for Alzheimer’s Dementia, a neurodegenerative disease that has no known cure. Electroencephalography’s (EEG) capability to measure the dynamics of the brain’s neuronal networks makes it a powerful tool for analyzing and understanding aMCI. In this study, I examined the brain activation patterns of four healthy subjects with those of thirteen aMCI diagnosed subjects during a one-hour afternoon sleep session by employing a 64-channel EEG data collection system. The power spectrum was analyzed to identify sleep stages, while spectral topography and source imaging techniques were employed to study the fluctuating patterns of the brain. Results of this study show distinct structures of the resting state patterns for aMCI subjects when compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, I compared the neuroimaging features from EEG to the neurological assessment of memory and additional cognitive measures in aMCI subjects. Results for source imaging analysis indicate a significant difference in the default mode network connectivities between more impaired versus less impaired aMCI diagnosed subjects. The results indicate that spatial topographies and electrophysiological networks measured by EEG may be used to characterize the neurological correlates of cognitive impairment in aMCI. In conclusion, this proof-of-concept study suggests that EEG may be used in place of fMRI for the evaluation of brain activations associated with aMCI and its degradation levels. This development could pave the way for cheaper, more accessible neuroimaging for subjects with aMCI.