Investigating Auditory Electrophysiological Measures of Participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Event-Related Potential Studies

Abstract

Background: Objectively measuring auditory functions has been proposed as an avenue in differentiating normal age-related cognitive dysfunction from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its prodromal states. Previous research has suggested auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) to be non-invasive, cost-effective, and efficient biomarkers for the diagnosis of AD. Objective: The objective of this paper is to review the published literature on AERPs measures in older adults diagnosed with AD and those at higher risk of developing AD, i.e., mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive decline. Methods: The search was performed on six major electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, OVID EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL Plus). Articles identified prior to 7 May 2019 were considered for this review. A random effects meta-analysis and analysis of between study heterogeneity was conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results: The search identified 1,076 articles; 74 articles met the full inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review, and 47 articles were included into the analyses. Pooled analysis suggests that AD participants can be differentiated from controls due to significant delays in ABR, N100, P200, N200, and P300 latencies. P300 amplitude was significantly smaller in AD participants compared to controls. P300 latencies differed significantly between MCI participants and controls based on the pooled analysis. Conclusion: The findings of this review indicate that some AERPs may be valuable biomarkers of AD. In conjunction with currently available clinical and neuropsychological assessments, AERPs can aid in screening and diagnosis of prodromal AD.

Predictive Power of Cognitive Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Disease Drug Development: Utility of the P300 Event-Related Potential

“…Several studies have also shown that ERP P300 can detect differences in P300 latency in people with a family history of AD as compared to age-matched controls [ 39 , 54 – 56 ]. Additionally, results of several meta-analyses of ERP P300 latency studies in patients with AD and MCI support the use of ERP P300 as a biological marker for prodromal AD [ 57 – 61 ]. While most studies have reported a decreased P300 amplitude in patients with AD [ 62 ], there have been some exceptions, in which amplitude in patients with AD was reported as being equivalent to that in healthy controls [ 53 , 63 ].…”

Synapse-Related Serum and P300 Biomarkers Predict the Occurrence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Depression

“… 14 Among them, the P300, mismatch negative (MMN) and N200 have been reported to be closely associated with cognitive impairment in different cognitive disorders. 15 , 16 …”

Prefrontal EEG slowing, synchronization, and ERP peak latency in association with predementia stages of Alzheimer’s disease

“…Numerous studies have validated the feasibility and reliability of resting-state EEG and ERP in relation to cognitive impairment due to AD ( Cassani et al, 2018 ; Paitel et al, 2021 ; Tarawneh et al, 2021 ). Notably, EEG spectral measures, synchronization patterns, and ERP latencies have served as potential indicators to screen individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD dementia ( Garcés et al, 2013 ; Paitel et al, 2021 ; Sedghizadeh et al, 2022 ).…”