Journal of International Psychiatry

Abstract Objective: To observe the value of early-warning indexes of electroencephalogram (EEG) α waves and θ waves in predicting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the elderly. Methods: 80 cases of patients with MCI treated in our hospital from December 2014 to December 2016 were selected as observation group, and 65 healthy subjects were selected as the control group at the same time. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores and the power of quantitative EEG in the two groups were analyzed. Changes of α and θ waves at F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1, O2, T3 and T4 were observed, and the correlation between α waves and θ waves and MMSE was analyzed. Results: The MMSE score of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). The relative power of α band in different cerebral areas of the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05) while the relative power of θ band was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). There was a significant correlation between EEG α power and θ power and MMSE score (correlation coefficient r=-0.793 and r=0.543, P<0.05). Conclusion: The relative power of α band and θ band in EEG may be the quantitative EEG indexes for auxiliary diagnosis of MCI.

Key words: Electroencephalogram, α wave, θ wave, Mild cognitive impairment