Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum
Abstract Background Entrainment of neural oscillations in occipital cortices by external rhythmic visual stimuli has been proposed as a novel therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Despite this increased interest in visual neural oscillations in AD, little is known regarding their role...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-021-00881-w |
| _version_ | 1819085661276209152 |
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| author | Alex I. Wiesman Daniel L. Murman Pamela E. May Mikki Schantell Sara L. Wolfson Craig M. Johnson Tony W. Wilson |
| author_facet | Alex I. Wiesman Daniel L. Murman Pamela E. May Mikki Schantell Sara L. Wolfson Craig M. Johnson Tony W. Wilson |
| author_sort | Alex I. Wiesman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Entrainment of neural oscillations in occipital cortices by external rhythmic visual stimuli has been proposed as a novel therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Despite this increased interest in visual neural oscillations in AD, little is known regarding their role in AD-related cognitive impairment and in particular during visuospatial processing. Methods We used source-imaged magnetoencephalography (MEG) and an established visuospatial processing task to elicit multi-spectral neuronal responses in 35 biomarker-confirmed patients on the AD spectrum and 20 biomarker-negative older adults. Neuronal oscillatory responses were imaged to the level of the cortex, and group classifications and neurocognitive relationships were modeled using logistic and linear regression, respectively. Results Visuospatial neuronal oscillations in the theta, alpha, and gamma ranges significantly predicted the classification of patients on the AD spectrum. Importantly, the direction of these effects differed by response frequency, such that patients on the AD spectrum exhibited weaker alpha-frequency responses in lateral occipital regions, and stronger gamma-frequency responses in the primary visual cortex, as compared to biomarker-negative older adults. In addition, alpha and gamma, but not theta, oscillations robustly predicted cognitive status (i.e., MoCA and MMSE scores), such that patients with neural responses that deviated more from those of healthy older adults exhibited poorer cognitive performance. Conclusions We find that the multi-spectral neural dynamics supporting visuospatial processing differentiate patients on the AD spectrum from cognitively normal, biomarker-negative older adults. Oscillations in the alpha and gamma bands also relate to cognitive status in ways that are informative for emerging clinical interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:07:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0cf67b2bee6248e5b94c5b57204a1940 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1758-9193 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:07:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy |
| spelling | doaj.art-0cf67b2bee6248e5b94c5b57204a19402022-12-21T18:50:13ZengBMCAlzheimer’s Research & Therapy1758-91932021-08-0113111210.1186/s13195-021-00881-wVisuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrumAlex I. Wiesman0Daniel L. Murman1Pamela E. May2Mikki Schantell3Sara L. Wolfson4Craig M. Johnson5Tony W. Wilson6Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill UniversityDepartment of Neurological Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical CenterDepartment of Neurological Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical CenterInstitute for Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research HospitalGeriatrics Medicine Clinic, UNMCDepartment of Radiology, UNMCInstitute for Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research HospitalAbstract Background Entrainment of neural oscillations in occipital cortices by external rhythmic visual stimuli has been proposed as a novel therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Despite this increased interest in visual neural oscillations in AD, little is known regarding their role in AD-related cognitive impairment and in particular during visuospatial processing. Methods We used source-imaged magnetoencephalography (MEG) and an established visuospatial processing task to elicit multi-spectral neuronal responses in 35 biomarker-confirmed patients on the AD spectrum and 20 biomarker-negative older adults. Neuronal oscillatory responses were imaged to the level of the cortex, and group classifications and neurocognitive relationships were modeled using logistic and linear regression, respectively. Results Visuospatial neuronal oscillations in the theta, alpha, and gamma ranges significantly predicted the classification of patients on the AD spectrum. Importantly, the direction of these effects differed by response frequency, such that patients on the AD spectrum exhibited weaker alpha-frequency responses in lateral occipital regions, and stronger gamma-frequency responses in the primary visual cortex, as compared to biomarker-negative older adults. In addition, alpha and gamma, but not theta, oscillations robustly predicted cognitive status (i.e., MoCA and MMSE scores), such that patients with neural responses that deviated more from those of healthy older adults exhibited poorer cognitive performance. Conclusions We find that the multi-spectral neural dynamics supporting visuospatial processing differentiate patients on the AD spectrum from cognitively normal, biomarker-negative older adults. Oscillations in the alpha and gamma bands also relate to cognitive status in ways that are informative for emerging clinical interventions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-021-00881-wNeural oscillationsVisuospatial processingMagnetoencephalographySource imagingAlzheimer’s disease |
| spellingShingle | Alex I. Wiesman Daniel L. Murman Pamela E. May Mikki Schantell Sara L. Wolfson Craig M. Johnson Tony W. Wilson Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy Neural oscillations Visuospatial processing Magnetoencephalography Source imaging Alzheimer’s disease |
| title | Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum |
| title_full | Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum |
| title_fullStr | Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum |
| title_short | Visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum |
| title_sort | visuospatial alpha and gamma oscillations scale with the severity of cognitive dysfunction in patients on the alzheimer s disease spectrum |
| topic | Neural oscillations Visuospatial processing Magnetoencephalography Source imaging Alzheimer’s disease |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-021-00881-w |
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