Memories of attachment hamper EEG cortical connectivity in dissociative patients

In this study, we evaluated cortical connectivity modifications by electroencephalography (EEG) lagged coherence analysis, in subjects with dissociative disorders and in controls, after retrieval of attachment memories. We asked thirteen patients with dissociative disorders and thirteen age- and sex-matched healthy controls to retrieve personal attachment-related autobiographical memories through adult attachment interviews (AAI). EEG was recorded in the closed eyes resting state before and after the AAI. EEG lagged coherence before and after AAI was compared in all subjects. In the control group, memories of attachment promoted a widespread increase in EEG connectivity, in particular in the high-frequency EEG bands. Compared to controls, dissociative patients did not show an increase in EEG connectivity after the AAI. Conclusions: These results shed light on the neurophysiology of the disintegrative effect of retrieval of traumatic attachment memories in dissociative patients.     

Global dynamical analysis of the EEG in Alzheimer's disease: frequency-specific changes of functional interactions.

OBJECTIVE: EEG coherence is decreased in Alzheimer's disease (AD), suggesting decreased interaction between brain areas. Nonlinear EEG analysis in AD points to decreased complexity of brain dynamics, implicating increased interaction. To clarify these apparently paradoxical findings from linear and nonlinear analysis, we calculated global coherence and global correlation dimension (D2), a nonlinear measure, in the EEG of patients with probable AD and controls. Our hypothesis is that these measures are related to each other when calculated in a comparable way. METHODS: From 15 patients with probable AD (mean age 63.1 years; SD 6.3) and 21 age-matched controls with subjective memory complaints (mean age 62.8; SD 12.0), band filtered EEG data were analysed in six frequency bands. For each frequency band average coherence and multichannel D2 were determined. RESULTS: ANOVA for repeated measures showed for D2 an interaction between band and group, but not for coherence. In the beta band and upper alpha band, D2 was higher in patients with probable AD compared to controls, while global coherence tended to be lower in these frequency bands in patients with probable AD. In the frequency range from theta to beta, coherence and D2 were inversely correlated without group differences. CONCLUSIONS: When calculated in comparable ways, global correlation dimension and coherence are related measures. In AD, these measures change especially in the higher frequency ranges, both pointing to decreased functional cortical connectivity. SIGNIFICANCE: Both global coherence and global correlation dimension seem to measure global connectivity, but nonlinear measures may be more sensitive. In AD, connectivity measures are not equally impaired in all frequency ranges, possibly reflecting differentiated affection of the dynamical processes responsible for the different frequency bands.     

EEG dynamics in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive and intellectual deficits and behavior disturbance. The electroencephalogram (EEG) has been used as a tool for diagnosing AD for several decades. The hallmark of EEG abnormalities in AD patients is a shift of the power spectrum to lower frequencies and a decrease in coherence of fast rhythms. These abnormalities are thought to be associated with functional disconnections among cortical areas resulting from death of cortical neurons, axonal pathology, cholinergic deficits, etc. This article reviews main findings of EEG abnormalities in AD patients obtained from conventional spectral analysis and nonlinear dynamical methods. In particular, nonlinear alterations in the EEG of AD patients, i.e. a decreased complexity of EEG patterns and reduced information transmission among cortical areas, and their clinical implications are discussed. For future studies, improvement of the accuracy of differential diagnosis and early detection of AD based on multimodal approaches, longitudinal studies on nonlinear dynamics of the EEG, drug effects on the EEG dynamics, and linear and nonlinear functional connectivity among cortical regions in AD are proposed to be investigated. EEG abnormalities of AD patients are characterized by slowed mean frequency, less complex activity, and reduced coherences among cortical regions. These abnormalities suggest that the EEG has utility as a valuable tool for differential and early diagnosis of AD.     

Functional corticomuscular connection during reaching is weakened following stroke

ObjectiveTo investigate the functional connection between motor cortex and muscles, we measured electroencephalogram–electromyogram (EEG–EMG) coherence of stroke patients and controls.MethodsEight healthy controls and 21 patients with shoulder and elbow coordination deficits were enrolled. All subjects performed a reaching task involving shoulder flexion and elbow extension. EMG of the anterior deltoid (AD) and brachii muscles (BB, TB) and 64-channel scalp EEG were recorded during the task. Time-frequency coherence was calculated using the bivariate autoregressive model.ResultsStroke patients had significantly lower corticomuscular coherence compared with healthy controls for the AD and BB muscles at both the beta (20–30 Hz) and lower gamma (30–40 Hz) bands during the movement. BH procedure (FDR) identified a reduced corticomuscular coherence for stroke patients in 11 of 15 scalp area–muscle combinations. There was no statistically significant difference between stroke patients and control subjects according to coherence in other frequency bands.ConclusionPoorly recovered stroke survivors with persistent upper-limb motor deficits exhibited significantly lower gamma-band corticomuscular coherence in performing a reaching task.SignificanceThe study suggests poor brain-muscle communication or poor integration of the EEG and EMG signals in higher frequency band during reaching task may reflect an underlying mechanism producing movement deficits post-stroke.     

Hyperconnectivity matters in early-onset Alzheimer's disease: a resting-state EEG connectivity study

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to differentiate individuals with early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and identify differences of functional connectivity in resting-state EEG between individuals with EOAD and late-onset AD (LOAD) in comparison with both healthy young and elderly individuals.MethodsForty EOAD and 56 LOAD patients were included along with 51 demographically matched young, and 54 elderly healthy individuals as controls to the EOAD and LOAD groups. Four minutes of resting-state EEG were recorded during the eyes-closed condition. The absolute value of imaginary coherence (ICoh) was measured for connectivity. The maximum values of ICoh were measured at delta (0.5-3.5 Hz), theta (4-7.5Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), alpha-1 (8-10 Hz), alpha-2 (10.5-13 Hz), beta (13-30 Hz), beta-1 (13-20 Hz), and beta-2 (20.5-30 Hz) frequency bands.ResultsIndividuals with EOAD showed higher coherence values in all frequency bands than LOAD patients. Compared to young healthy controls (YHC), EOAD had increased ICoh values in theta and beta-2 bands, whereas LOAD had lower ICoh values in the alpha-1 band than elderly healthy controls (EHC). Lastly, patients with EOAD demonstrated negative moderate correlations between language domains and beta-1 ICoh values.ConclusionTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study evaluating coherence alterations among early-and late-onset AD patients and the diagnostic value of coherence measures. It was suggested that EOAD patients had more severe pathological changes compared with LOAD.     

Coherence analysis differentiates between cortical myoclonic tremor and essential tremor.

Familial cortical myoclonic tremor with epilepsy (FCMTE) is characterized by a distal kinetic tremor, infrequent epileptic attacks, and autosomal dominant inheritance. The tremor is thought to originate from the motor cortex. In our patient group, a premovement cortical spike could not be established on electroencephalogram (EEG) back-averaging. Corticomuscular and intermuscular coherence analysis can demonstrate a cortical common drive to muscles. We carried out coherence analysis of electromyography (EMG) of forearm muscles and EEG of contralateral motor cortex in 7 FCMTE patients, 8 essential tremor (ET) patients, and 7 healthy controls. Results showed strong cortico- and intermuscular coherence in the 8- to 30-Hz range in the FCMTE patients, with EEG preceding EMG. Healthy controls and ET patients showed normal weak coherence around 20 Hz. The ET patients showed some additional coherence at tremor frequency (6 Hz), probably the result of sensory information flowing back to the sensorimotor cortex. These findings point to a pathological cortical drive in FCMTE patients leading to tremulous movements. Coherence analysis is an easy and useful method to differentiate FCMTE from ET. Coherence analysis is helpful when investigating a cortical common drive in cortical tremor and other movement disorders.     

EEG coherence reflects regional corpus callosum area in Alzheimer's disease

OBJECTIVE: Correlations between corpus callosum size and interhemispheric EEG coherence were investigated as measures of interhemispheric connectivity in patients with Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: 11 patients underwent both magnetic resonance imaging and quantitative electroencephalography to assess corpus callosum size and interhemispheric coherence. For comparison, corpus callosum size was measured in 24 healthy elderly control subjects. RESULTS: Corpus callosum cross sectional area was significantly reduced in Alzheimer patients relative to controls. Posterior interhemispheric coherence (alpha and beta frequencies) correlated significantly with the size of posterior corpus callosum area, and anterior coherence (delta, theta, and alpha frequencies) with the size of anterior corpus callosum area in the Alzheimer patients. CONCLUSION: Region specific correlations between corpus callosum size and EEG coherence suggest that the decline in interhemispheric connectivity in Alzheimer's disease results from a specific loss of cortical association neurones projecting through the corpus callosum.     

Oscillatory connectivity as a diagnostic marker of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease

ObjectiveQuantitative EEG power has not been as effective in discriminating between healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease as conventional biomarkers. But EEG coherence has shown promising results in small samples. The overall aim was to evaluate if EEG connectivity markers can discriminate between Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and healthy aging and to explore the early underlying changes in coherence.MethodsEEGs were included in the analysis from 135 healthy controls, 117 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 117 patients with Alzheimer’s disease from six Nordic memory clinics. Principal component analysis was performed before multinomial regression.ResultsWe found classification accuracies of above 95% based on coherence, imaginary part of coherence, and the weighted phase-lag index. The most prominent changes in coherence were decreased alpha coherence in Alzheimer’s disease, which was correlated to the scores of the 10-word test in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease battery.ConclusionsThe diagnostic accuracies for EEG connectivity measures are higher than findings from studies investigating EEG power and conventional Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. Furthermore, decreased alpha coherence is one of the earliest changes in Alzheimer’s disease and associated with memory function.SignificanceEEG connectivity measures may be useful supplementary diagnostic classifiers.     

Altered resting state effective connectivity in long-standing vegetative state patients: An EEG study

ObjectiveRecent evidence mainly based on hemodynamic measures suggests that the impairment of functional connections between different brain areas may help to clarify the neuronal dysfunction occurring in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC).The aim of this study was to evaluate effective EEG connectivity in a cohort of 18 patients in a chronic vegetative state (VS) observed years after the occurrence of hypoxic (eight) and traumatic or hemorrhagic brain insult.Methodswe analysed the EEG signals recorded under resting conditions using a frequency domain linear index of connectivity (partial directed coherence: PDC) estimated from a multivariate autoregressive model. The results were compared with those obtained in ten healthy controls.ResultsOur findings indicated significant connectivity changes in EEG activities in delta and alpha bands. The VS patients showed a significant and widespread decrease in delta band connectivity, whereas the alpha activity was hyper-connected in the central and posterior cortical regions.ConclusionThese changes suggest the occurrence of severe circuitry derangements probably due to the loose control of the subcortical connections. The alpha hyper-synchronisation may be due to simplified networks mainly involving the short-range connections between intrinsically oscillatory cortical neurons that generate aberrant EEG alpha sources. This increased connectivity may be interpreted as a reduction in information capacity, implying an increasing prevalence of stereotypic activity patterns.SignificanceOur observations suggest a remarkable rearrangement of connectivity in patients with long-standing VS. We hypothesize that in persistent VS, after a first period characterized by a breakdown of cortical connectivity, neurodegenerative processes, largely independent from the type of initial insult, lead to cortex de-afferentation and to a severe reduction of possible cortical activity patterns and states.     

EEG coherence in Alzheimer’s dementia

Summary. In Alzheimers dementia (AD) axonal disruption and cholinergic deficit lead to impaired cortical connectivity and to a decrease in EEG alpha coherence. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of coherence parameters of the EEG for the diagnostics of AD. Quantitative EEG analyses were performed in 31 AD patients and 17 cognitively unimpaired depressive controls, both groups without psychopharmacological treatment. Differences between groups were examined and the diagnostic significance of EEG parameters was assessed by means of stepwise logistic regression analyses. In the AD patients global theta power was increased, left temporal alpha coherence and interhemispheric theta coherence were decreased. Left temporal alpha coherence and global theta power allowed an identification of AD patients with a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 77%. Quantitative analyses, especially the determination of left temporal alpha coherence, may enhance the usefulness of the EEG in the diagnostics of AD. Declaration of interest: Eisai GmbH, Frankfurt, supported S.B. in part during the studyReceived March 11, 2002; accepted June 10, 2002     

Investigation of resting-state EEG functional connectivity in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the presence of EEG abnormalities in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) in comparison with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-demented individuals with subjective memory complaints (SMC), using an elaborated visual EEG rating scale; furthermore, to investigate whether assessment of resting-state functional connectivity of the EEG is superior to visual evaluation in distinguishing between FTLD, AD and non-demented controls. METHODS: EEGs of 15 patients with FTLD, 20 with AD and 23 individuals with SMC were visually compared using the Grand Total EEG (GTE) score. The synchronization likelihood (SL) as a measure of functional connectivity between different EEG channels was calculated for the 0.5-4Hz, 4-8Hz, 8-10Hz, 10-13Hz, 13-30Hz and 30-45Hz frequency bands. Patients had mild to moderate dementia. RESULTS: In AD, as expected, the GTE revealed significant differences from FTLD and SMC, indicating more EEG slowing and loss of reactivity. Patients with FTLD, however, could not be discriminated from individuals with SMC by the GTE score. Analysis of resting-state functional connectivity showed decreased SL in AD compared to both FTLD and SMC in the lower and higher alpha frequency band and decreased SL in AD compared to SMC in the beta frequency band, whereas no differences between FTLD and AD or SMC were found. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with mild to moderate FTLD both the visually rated EEG and EEG measures of resting-state functional connectivity are normal. SIGNIFICANCE: Although widespread neuronal degeneration takes place in frontotemporal lobar degeneration, this is not reflected in the EEG during the mild to moderate stages of the disease. An abnormal EEG in a mildly demented subject favours a diagnosis of AD.     

EEG–EMG information flow in movement-activated myoclonus in patients with Unverricht–Lundborg disease

ObjectiveWe aimed the present study at estimating the appropriateness of generalised partial directed coherence (GPDC) in detecting myoclonus-related EEG–EMG connectivity pattern and the information flow between sensorimotor cortex and muscles in patients with typical cortical myoclonus due to Unverricht–Lundborg disease.MethodsIn 13 patients with cortical myoclonus, we analysed the EEG and EMG signals recorded during simple voluntary motor activities using GPDC, a frequency domain linear index of connectivity estimated from a multivariate autoregressive model. The results were compared with those obtained in 12 healthy controls.ResultsThe GPDC revealed a peculiar pattern characterising patients with cortical myoclonus with respect to healthy subjects. Patients consistently had significant more robust outflow toward activated muscle originating from cortical areas exceeding the motor one. Moreover, they also had a more robust EMG outflow directed toward a wider cortical area contralateral to activated hand and sometimes also toward the ipsilateral central region.ConclusionsOur results clearly indicate the recruitment of extensive cortical network in afferent and efferent EEG–EMG relationships.SignificanceGiven that robust cortical outflow can be considered as the pathogenic mechanism sustaining myoclonus, the perturbation from the EMG outflow could lead to the involvement of large cortical area implied in sensorimotor integration and became capable of generating and maintaining the jerk recurrence.     

Abnormal functional connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease: intrahemispheric EEG coherence during rest and photic stimulation

Electroencephalography (EEG) coherence provides a measure of functional correlations between two EEG signals. The present study was conducted to examine intrahemispheric EEG coherence at rest and during photic stimulation (PS; 5, 10 and 15 Hz) in ten unmedicated patients with presenile dementia of the Alzheimer type (AD; mean age at onset 56 years). In the resting EEG, the AD patients had significantly lower coherence than gender- and age-matched control subjects in the alpha-1, alpha-2 and beta-1 frequency bands. The EEG analysis during PS also showed that the patients had significantly lower coherence in the frequency corresponding to PS at 10 and 15 Hz. In this study, the changes in coherence from the resting state to the stimulus condition (i.e. PS-related coherence reactivity) were examined. The patients were found to show significantly smaller coherence reactivity to PS at 5 and 15 Hz. These findings suggest that, in addition to the resting state, AD patients have an impairment of intrahemispheric functional connectivity during PS. They also suggest that AD shows a failure of PS-related functional reorganization. Received: 5 August 1997 / Accepted: 18 June 1998     

Functional and effective brain connectivity for discrimination between Alzheimer’s patients and healthy individuals: A study on resting state EEG rhythms

Objective

This exploratory study provided a proof of concept of a new procedure using multivariate electroencephalographic (EEG) topographic markers of cortical connectivity to discriminate normal elderly (Nold) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) individuals.

EEG filtering based on blind source separation (BSS) for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Development of an EEG preprocessing technique for improvement of detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The technique is based on filtering of EEG data using blind source separation (BSS) and projection of components which are possibly sensitive to cortical neuronal impairment found in early stages of AD. METHODS: Artifact-free 20s intervals of raw resting EEG recordings from 22 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) who later proceeded to AD and 38 age-matched normal controls were decomposed into spatio-temporally decorrelated components using BSS algorithm 'AMUSE'. Filtered EEG was obtained by back projection of components with the highest linear predictability. Relative power of filtered data in delta, theta, alpha 1, alpha 2, beta 1, and beta 2 bands were processed with Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). RESULTS: Preprocessing improved the percentage of correctly classified patients and controls computed with jack-knifing cross-validation from 59 to 73% and from 76 to 84%, correspondingly. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed approach can significantly improve the sensitivity and specificity of EEG based diagnosis. SIGNIFICANCE: Filtering based on BSS can improve the performance of the existing EEG approaches to early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. It may also have potential for improvement of EEG classification in other clinical areas or fundamental research. The developed method is quite general and flexible, allowing for various extensions and improvements.     

Functional integrity of thalamocortical circuits differentiates normal aging from mild cognitive impairment

Resonance in thalamocortical networks is critically involved in sculpting oscillatory behavior in large ensembles of neocortical cells. Neocortical oscillations provide critical information about the integrity of thalamocortical circuits and functional connectivity of cortical networks, which seem to be significantly disrupted by the neuronal death and synapse loss characterizing Alzheimer's disease (AD). By applying a novel analysis methodology to overcome volume conduction effects between scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements, we were able to estimate the temporal activation of EEG‐alpha sources in the thalamus and parieto‐occipital regions of the cortex. We found that synaptic flow underlying the lower alpha band (7.5–10 Hz) was abnormally facilitated in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as compared to healthy elderly individuals, particularly from thalamus to cortex (～38% higher). In addition, the thalamic generator of lower alpha oscillations was also abnormally activated in patients with MCI. Regarding the upper alpha subdivision (10.1–12.5 Hz), both controls and patients with MCI showed a bidirectional decrease of thalamocortical synaptic transmission, which was age‐dependent only in the control group. Altogether, our results suggest that functional dynamics of thalamocortical networks differentiate individuals at high risk of developing AD from healthy elderly subjects, supporting the hypothesis that neurodegeneration mechanisms are active years before the patient is clinically diagnosed with dementia. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Navigated TMS combined with EEG in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study

Our aim was to assess the potential of navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-evoked electroencephalographic (EEG) responses in studying neuronal reactivity and cortical connectivity in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We studied 14 right-handed subjects: five patients with AD, five patients with MCI and four healthy controls. Fifty TMS-pulses at an intensity of 110% of individually determined motor threshold were delivered to the hand area of primary motor cortex (M1) with navigated brain stimulation (NBS). Spreading of primary NBS-evoked neuronal activity was monitored with a compatible 60-channel EEG, and analyzed in time, frequency and spatial-domains. We found significantly reduced TMS-evoked P30 (time-locked response 30 ms after the magnetic stimulation) in the AD subjects. This reduction was seen in the temporo-parietal area ipsilateral to stimulation side as well as in the contralateral fronto-central cortex corresponding to the sensorimotor network, which is anatomically interconnected with the stimulated M1. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the N100 amplitude in the MCI subjects when compared with the control subjects. Thus, the combination of NBS and EEG revealed prominent changes in functional cortical connectivity and reactivity in the AD subjects. This pilot study suggests that the method may provide a novel tool for examining the degree and progression of dementia.     

Mechanism of visual network dysfunction in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and its relation to cognition

ObjectiveTo investigate if changes in brain network function and connectivity contribute to the abnormalities in visual event related potentials (ERP) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and explore their relation to a decrease in cognitive performance.MethodsWe evaluated 72 patients with RRMS and 89 healthy control subjects in a cross-sectional study. Visual ERP were generated using illusory and non-illusory stimuli and recorded using 21 EEG scalp electrodes. The measured activity was modelled using Dynamic Causal Modelling. The model network consisted of 4 symmetric nodes including the primary visual cortex (V1/V2) and the Lateral Occipital Complex. Patients and controls were tested with a neuropsychological test battery consisting of 18 cognitive tests covering six cognitive domains.ResultsWe found reduced cortical connectivity in bottom-up and interhemispheric connections to the right lateral occipital complex in patients (p < 0.001). Furthermore, interhemispherical connections were related to cognitive dysfunction in several domains (attention, executive function, visual perception and organization, processing speed and global cognition) for patients (p < 0.05). No relation was seen between cortical network connectivity and cognitive function in the healthy control subjects.ConclusionChanges in the functional connectivity to higher cortical regions provide a neurobiological explanation for the changes of the visual ERP in RRMS.SignificanceThis study suggests that changes in connectivity to higher cortical regions partly explain visual network dysfunction in RRMS where a lower interhemispheric connectivity may contribute to impaired cognitive function.     

Performance analysis of univariate and multivariate EEG measurements in the diagnosis of ADHD

ObjectiveTo investigate the performance of univariate and multivariate EEG measurements in diagnosing ADHD subjects in a broad age range.MethodsEEG from eight cortical regions were recorded at rest during eyes open and eyes closed in 22 male ADHD subjects of combined type and 21 healthy male controls (age range 4–15 years). Univariate and interdependence measurements calculated from the frequency domain and from the reconstructed state spaces of EEG signals were computed, and their performance in discriminating ADHD from healthy subjects was analyzed.ResultsSignificant between-group differences in univariate measures were age-dependent. However, certain interdependence inter-hemispheric measures during eyes closed showed significant, age-independent between-groups differences. Among them, coherence in the beta band between inter-occipital regions and between left/occipital–right/central regions provided an overall accuracy classification rate of 74.4%. Even greater accuracy (86.7%) was obtained by an interdependence index of generalized synchronization between left/occipital–right/central regions and left/central–right/temporal regions.ConclusionsEEG beta coherence and especially the degree of generalized synchronization between a few inter-hemispheric regions during resting state with eyes closed allow a high accuracy classification rate of ADHD subjects.SignificanceChanges in inter-hemispheric EEG functional brain connectivity at rest are useful for ADHD diagnosis in a broad age range.     

Discrimination of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment by equivalent EEG sources: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: The spatial aspects of brain electrical activity can be assessed by equivalent EEG frequency band generators. We aimed to describe alterations of these EEG generators in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy aging and whether they could serve as predictive markers of AD in subjects at risk. METHODS: The amplitude and 3-dimensional localization of equivalent EEG sources were evaluated using FFT dipole approximation in 38 mild AD patients, 31 subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 24 healthy control subjects. RESULTS: AD patients showed an increase of delta and theta global field power (GFP), which corresponds to the generalized EEG amplitude, as well as a reduction of alpha GFP when compared to the controls. A decrease of alpha and beta GFP was found in AD patients, as compared to the MCI subjects. With respect to topography in the antero-posterior direction, sources of alpha and beta activity shifted more anteriorly in AD patients compared to both the controls and MCI subjects. No significant difference was found between MCI and controls. Combined alpha and theta GFP were the best discriminating variables between AD patients and controls (84% correct classification) and AD and MCI subjects (78% correctly classified). MCI subjects were followed longitudinally (25 months on average) in order to compare differences in baseline EEG variables between MCI subjects who progressed to AD (PMCI) and those who remained stable (SMCI). Compared to SMCI, PMCI had decreased alpha GFP and a more anterior localization of sources of theta, alpha and beta frequency. In a linear discriminant analysis applied on baseline values of the two MCI subgroups, the best predictor of future development of AD was found to be antero-posterior localization of alpha frequency. CONCLUSIONS: FFT dipole approximation and frequency analysis performed by conventional FFT showed comparable classification accuracy between the studied groups. We conclude that localization and amplitude of equivalent EEG sources could be promising markers of early AD.