Changes in Theta but not Alpha Modulation Are Associated with Impairment in Working Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Rationale and study-design of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind phase 2b trial to Evaluate Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of an oral glutaminyl cyclase inhibitor Varoglutamstat (PQ912) in Study participants With MCI and Mild AD -  VIVIAD

“…Another argument for including EEG-changes as an endpoint is that the functional neurophysiological changes of a treatment can happen within days to weeks, as shown in the classical cholinesterase studies. In the VIVIAD trial EEG data will be assessed for changes in theta-wave activity (theta power), and other sensitive oscillatory activity markers (31,32). Incorporation of this modality in the current study may further validate EEG-changes as endpoints in clinical trials Another outcome in the VIVIAD trial is an automated speech recognition method-based measure of disease affecting language (including AD), the WLA.…”

“…Another argument for including EEG-changes as an endpoint is that the functional neurophysiological changes of a treatment can happen within days to weeks, as shown in the classical cholinesterase studies. In the VIVIAD trial EEG data will be assessed for changes in theta-wave activity (theta power), and other sensitive oscillatory activity markers (31,32).…”

Alpha Power and Functional Connectivity in Cognitive Decline: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…However, the latter was only true for people with md-aMCI. Three other studies did not find significant differences between people with aMCI and cognitively healthy older adults (McBride et al [78], n = 17 AD, 16 aMCI, 15 OA; Goodman et al [120], n = 29 AD, 100 MCI, 40 OA; van der Hiele et al [121], n = 11 AD, 13 aMCI, 13 OA). In addition to the differences in the magnitude of power increase or decrease, Fraga et al [118] (n = 15 AD, 21 aMCI, 27 OA) also found differences in the direction of power change between cognitively healthy older adults and those with aMCI.…”

“…None of the four studies that compared changes in alpha activity during tasks of working memory between people with MCI and people with AD reported significant differences between the two groups (McBride et al [78], n = 17 AD, 16 aMCI, 15 OA; Fraga et al [118], n = 15 AD, 21 aMCI, 27 OA; Goodman et al [120], n = 29 AD, 100 MCI, 40 OA; van der Hiele et al [121], n = 11 AD, 13 aMCI, 13 OA).…”

“…Theta and gamma bands are well-known for their involvement in memory [35,[188][189][190]. Activity in these bands, especially during task performance, was found to differ in people with MCI and cognitively healthy older adults [120,125,[191][192][193][194], and activity in the theta band was found to predict progression to AD [112,116,[195][196][197]. Task-related changes in delta power have also been identified as a potential biomarker of early cognitive decline [122,123,[198][199][200].…”