The electroencephalogram in Alzheimer-type dementia. A sequential study correlating the electroencephalogram with psychometric and quantitative pathologic data
A. Rae-Grant, W. Blume, C. Lau, V. C. Hachinski, M. Fisman and H. Merskey
As part of a longitudinal cohort study of dementia, 139 patients with
Alzheimer's disease (dementia of the Alzheimer type, senile dementia of the
Alzheimer type, and mixed type [ischemic score, 4 to 7]) and 148
age-matched control subjects were evaluated for electroencephalographic
(EEG) abnormalities and their evolution. Electroencephalograms were
significantly different in the two groups; EEGs worsened overall in the two
groups during a period of one to four years, but most subjects showed no
alteration in their EEGs. Some patients showed improvement in their EEG
findings during the follow-up period. A strong correlation between EEG
grade and psychometric scores was consistently found over sequential
studies. In a subgroup of patients on whom autopsies were performed,
morphometric neuron loss correlated significantly with EEG severity.
