EEG/ERP Longitudinal Study in Alzheimer's Disease (AD)
Condition: Alzheimer's Disease
MeSH terms: Alzheimer Disease
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      In a previous study, NCT00582127, two age-matched cohorts, one clinically diagnosed with mild
      Alzheimer's disease and the other healthy controls, were tested with a hand-held EEG/ERP
      system to determine if the cohorts could be discriminated using the EEG/ERP measures. This
      study proposes to retest the AD cohort 18-60 months after their first test to characterize
      the change in EEG/ERP measures correlated with the longitudinal change in neuropsychological
      testing.
    

Detailed description: 
      In study NCT00582127, two age-matched cohorts (mild AD, n=98 and healthy controls, n=100)
      were recruited to 7 clinical sites to undergo a broad range of clinical, neuropsychological,
      and neuroelectrophysiological tests. The complete battery of ADNI neuropsychological tests
      were performed on the mild AD subjects as well as standard blood tests and MRI using the ADNI
      protocol. MRI volumetry analysis was performed on the MRI data. Both cohorts underwent a
      3-minute EEG recording and event-related potential (ERP) testing using a standard 2-deviant
      auditory oddball paradigm with the COGNISION(tm) System from Neuronetrix. The study showed
      that specific EEG/ERP features could be used to discriminate the mild AD cohort from healthy
      controls.

      The current study is intended as a follow up to NCT00582127.AD subjects that successfully
      completed COGNISION™ and psychometric testing in the previous study are eligible to be part
      of the present follow up.

      In the first part of the current study, de-identified cognitive and functional data for the
      AD patients that the sites have collected during regular check ups after testing for the
      original Neuronetrix study will be shared with the study Sponsor. The retrospective chart
      review has three main objectives:

        -  Quantify the rate of cognitive and functional decline in these patients.

        -  Investigate whether ERP and/or qEEG data collected during testing for the original
           Neuronetrix study can provide any insight on subsequent rate of cognitive and functional
           decline.

        -  Identify study subjects that might still be functional enough to successfully complete a
           follow-up ERP/qEEG test. These subjects will be offered an opportunity to come back to
           the sites for follow-up ERP/qEEG and psychometric testing.

      Up to 40 subjects will be invited back to the sites. Subjects that choose to enroll in the
      second part of the study will have an ERP/qEEG test administered by a Neuronetrix certified
      test administrator. Subjects that complete the test successfully will move on to clinical
      evaluation and psychometric testing.

      Results obtained from this part of the study will be compared with ERP/qEEG and psychometric
      data from the completed Neuronetrix study mentioned above. The two main objectives of the
      comparisons will be:

        -  Investigate whether ERP and qEEG measures collected in outpatient settings show
           significant changes over time in subjects with AD.

        -  Correlate longitudinal changes in ERP and qEEG measures (if any) with cognitive and
           functional decline as measured by psychometric tests.
    

Intervention name(s): ERP/EEG test; Psychometric testing
Intervention type(s): Procedure; Procedure
Intervention description(s): The testing protocol consists of an auditory oddball ERP paradigm, followed by the collection of 3min of resting EEG. During the ERP paradigm a variety of auditory stimuli are played through the system's earphones while voltage potentials are recorded from the subject's scalp. At the end of the ERP session, 3 minutes of EEG data will be recorded while the subject is resting. The entire procedure, including set up, instructions to the subject and actual test is expected to take 45-60 minutes.; Subjects that complete ERP/qEEG testing successfully will move on to clinical and neuropsychological evaluation. Demographic information with also be collected.
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        AD subjects that successfully completed ERP/EEG testing during NCT00582127.
      
Keywords: EEG; ERP; Event-related Potentials; Alzheimer's; P300