Coherence of brain electrical activity: a quality of life indicator in Alzheimer's disease?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationships between quality of life (QOL) and clinical and electroencephalogram (EEG) aspects in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHOD: Twenty-eight patients with mild or moderate AD, 31 with Parkinson's disease (PD), and 27 normal controls (NC) were submitted to: CERAD neuropsychological battery, Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Rating Scales, Functional Activities Questionnaire, QOL scale for patients with AD, and quantitative EEG measures.

RESULTS: AD and PD patients had similar QOL (31.0 ± 5.8; 31.7 ± 4.8, respectively), worse than that of NC (37.5 ± 6.3). AD patients had lower global interhemispheric theta coherence (0.49 ± 0.04; 0.52 ± 0.05; 0.52 ± 0.05; respectively) than PD and NC. Multiple linear regression for QOL of AD patients revealed that global interhemispheric theta coherence, and Hamilton depression scores were significant factors (coefficients; 58.2 and -0.27, respectively; R2, 0.377).

CONCLUSION: Interhemispheric coherence correlates with QOL regardless of cognitive and functional variables and seems to be a neurophysiological indicator of QOL in AD patients.