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| The aim of this study was to investigate whether EEG coherence technique can facilitate the detection of early cognitive decline in elderly; and to determine the brain regions involved. The EEGs during both rest and performance of cognitive tasks in 3 groups of participants were recorded. The 3 groups were Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) group, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) group, and the healthy control group. In rest state, coherence value of EEG for AD group was lower than those in the other two groups in channel pairs of Fp2-T4, F4-C4 (P<0.01) and F3-C3, Fp1-T3, P3-O1 (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the MCI and control groups. In cognitive performing state (counting the target number), coherence of EEGs in all channel connections for AD group were lower compared with MCI and control group. Furthermore, in Fp2-T4 (prefrontal-temporal) and F4-C4 (frontal-central) pairs, MCI group showed significantly lower coherence than that in the control group. The conclusion of this study was that the coherence of EEG seemed to be a useful and sensitive indicator for different stages of cognitive impairment, especially in MCI diagnosis. The early Alzheimer’s disease EEG changes began in frontal lobes. |
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| Keywords:coherence, Gamma-band EEG, cognitive function, mild cognitive impair- |
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