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Homocysteine and electroencephalographic rhythms in Alzheimer disease: a multicentric study

C Babiloni1, P Bosco, R Ghidoni

  • 1Dipartimento di Fisiologia Umana e Farmacologia, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. claudio.babiloni@uniroma1.it <claudio.babiloni@uniroma1.it>

Neuroscience
|February 27, 2007
PubMed

Insights

High homocysteine levels correlate with increased slow brain wave activity in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, suggesting a link between homocysteine, brain health, and EEG patterns.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Biochemistry
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • High plasma homocysteine is an independent risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD).
  • Homocysteine's role in AD is linked to microvascular impairment and neural loss.
  • Slow electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms may reflect cortical neural loss in AD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between high plasma homocysteine levels and slow EEG rhythms in awake resting AD subjects.
  • To determine if elevated homocysteine is associated with specific EEG alterations in mild AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 34 mild AD patients and 34 MCI subjects.
  • Subdivided participants into low (<11 micromol/l) and high (>=11 micromol/l) homocysteine groups.
  • Recorded resting eyes-closed EEG, analyzed delta, theta, alpha, and beta rhythms.
  • Estimated EEG cortical sources using low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA).

Main Results:

  • AD subjects with high homocysteine (AD+) showed stronger delta, theta, alpha 1, and alpha 2 cortical sources compared to AD subjects with low homocysteine (AD-).
  • Delta and theta increases were observed across frontal, temporal, central, and parietal regions.
  • Alpha rhythm increases were noted in parietal and occipital regions.
  • No significant differences in EEG rhythms were found between MCI subjects with low and high homocysteine levels.

Conclusions:

  • High plasma homocysteine is associated with an unselective increase in cortical delta, theta, and alpha rhythms in mild AD.
  • Findings suggest a connection between homocysteine levels, microvascular changes in neurodegeneration, and EEG rhythm generation.
  • Elevated homocysteine may impact neural synchronization mechanisms reflected in EEG patterns in AD.

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