Disturbed oscillatory brain dynamics in subcortical ischemic vascular dementia

Abstract

Abstract Background White matter hyperintensities (WMH) can lead to dementia but the underlying physiological mechanisms are unclear. We compared relative oscillatory power from electroencephalographic studies (EEGs) of 17 patients with subcortical ischemic vascular dementia, based on extensive white matter hyperintensities (SIVD-WMH) with 17 controls to investigate physiological changes underlying this diagnosis. Results Differences between the groups were large, with a decrease of relative power of fast activity in patients (alpha power 0.25 ± 0.12 versus 0.38 ± 0.13, p = 0.01; beta power 0.08 ± 0.04 versus 0.19 ± 0.07; p Conclusions This pattern of disturbance in oscillatory brain activity indicate loss of connections between neurons, providing a first step in the understanding of cognitive dysfunction in SIVD-WMH.

Keywords

• EEG
• Oscillations
• Spectral analysis
• Relative power
• Vascular dementia
• Cognition
• White matter