Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer’s disease: Has Hans Berger’s dream come true?
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this "centenary" paper, an expert panel revisited Hans Berger's groundbreaking discovery of human restingstate electroencephalographic (rsEEG) alpha rhythms (8-12 Hz) in 1924, his foresight of substantial clinical applications in patients with "senile dementia," and new developments in the field, focusing on Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most prevalent cause of dementia in pathological aging. Clinical guidelines issued in 2024 by the US National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) and the European Neuroscience Societies did not endorse routine use of rsEEG biomarkers in the clinical workup of older adults with cognitive impairment. Nevertheless, the expert panel highlighted decades of research from independent workgroups and different techniques showing consistent evidence that abnormalities in rsEEG delta, theta, and alpha rhythms (< 30 Hz) observed in AD patients correlate with wellestablished AD biomarkers of neuropathology, neurodegeneration, and cognitive decline. We posit that these abnormalities may reflect alterations in oscillatory synchronization within subcortical and cortical circuits, inducing cortical inhibitory-excitatory imbalance (in some cases leading to epileptiform activity) and vigilance dysfunctions (e.g., mental fatigue and drowsiness), which may impact AD patients' quality of life. Berger's vision of using EEG to understand and manage dementia in pathological aging is still actual.
Source: Clinical Neurophysiology
Authors: Claudio Babiloni, Xianghong Arakaki, Sandra Baez, Robert J. Barry, Alberto Benussi, Katarzyna Blinowska, Laura Bonanni, Barbara Borroni, Jorge Bosch Bayard, Giuseppe Bruno, Alessia Cacciotti, Filippo Carducci, John Carino, Matteo Carpi, Antonella Conte, Josephine Cruzat, Fabrizia D’Antonio, Stefania Della Penna, Claudio Del Percio, Pierfilippo De Sanctis, Javier Escudero, Giovanni Fabbrini, Francesca R. Farina, Francisco J. Fraga, Peter Fuhr, Ute Gschwandtner, Bahar Güntekin, Yi Guo, Mihaly Hajos, Mark Hallett, Harald Hampel, Lutfu Hanoğlu, Ira Haraldsen, Mahmoud Hassan, Christoffer Hatlestad-Hall, András Attila Horváth, Agustin Ibanez, Francesco Infarinato, Alberto Jaramillo-Jimenez, Jaeseung Jeong, Yang Jiang, Maciej Kamiński, Giacomo Koch, Sanjeev Kumar, Giorgio Leodori, Gang Li, Roberta Lizio, Susanna Lopez, Raffaele Ferri, Fernando Maestú, Camillo Marra, Laura Marzetti, William McGeown, Francesca Miraglia, Sebastian Moguilner, Davide V. Moretti, Faisal Mushtaq, Giuseppe Noce, Lorenzo Nucci, John Ochoa, Paolo Onorati, Alessandro Padovani, Chiara Pappalettera, Mario Alfredo Parra, Matteo Pardini, Roberto Pascual-Marqui, Walter Paulus, Vittorio Pizzella, Pavel Prado, Géraldine Rauchs, Petra Ritter, Marco Salvatore, Hernando Santamaria-García, Michael Schirner, Andrea Soricelli, John-Paul Taylor, Hatice Tankisi, Franca Tecchio, Stefan Teipel, Alpha Tom Kodamullil, Antonio Ivano Triggiani, Mitchell Valdes-Sosa, Pedro Valdes-Sosa, Fabrizio Vecchio, Keith Vossel, Dezhong Yao, Görsev Yener, Ulf Ziemann, Anita Kamondi
Institutions: Sapienza University of Rome, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Universidad de Los Andes, University of California, San Francisco, Trinity College Dublin, Global Brain Health Institute, University of Wollongong, University of Trieste, Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Warsaw, University of Chieti-Pescara, Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, University of Brescia, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Università degli Studi eCampus, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico San Raffaele, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of Edinburgh, University of Chicago, Universidade Federal do ABC, University of Basel, University Hospital of Basel, Istanbul Medipol University, Southern University of Science and Technology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, ShenZhen People’s Hospital, Yale University, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Sorbonne Université, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Alzheimer Precision Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Reykjavík University, Semmelweis University, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, University of San Andrés, Stavanger University Hospital, Universidad de Antioquia, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, University of Kentucky, University of Ferrara, Fondazione Santa Lucia, University of Toronto, Eisai (United States), I.R.C.C.S. Oasi Maria SS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic, University of Strathclyde, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Leeds, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale degli Spedali Civili di Brescia, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, University of Genoa, University of Zurich, Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, San Sebastián University, Inserm, Cyceron, Physiopathologie et imagerie des troubles neurologiques, Université de Caen Normandie, Einstein Center Digital Future, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Parthenope University of Naples, Newcastle University, Aarhus University Hospital, National Research Council, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing, Cuban Neuroscience Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, University of California, Los Angeles, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,790
Funders: International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Alzheimer's Association, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, European Commission, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Eisai, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Nemzeti Kutatási és Technológiai Hivatal, Sorbonne Université, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, National Institutes of Health, Directorate for Biological Sciences, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, National Research, Development and Innovation Office, National Institute on Aging, Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, Fondo de Financiamiento de Centros de Investigación en Áreas Prioritarias, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Ministero dell'Istruzione e del Merito
Awards: G103627852, G1384181827, G1389884220, G150854395, G1581799926, G1847299102, G1853415910, G1936220471, G1942624163, G2086912014, G2118524674, eBRAIN-Health - Actionable Multilevel Health Data, G2244712244, G2539055055, G2742075923, G2852411755, G3065675551, G3124070969, G3428673064, CENTRO DE GEROCIENCIA SALUD MENTAL Y METABOLISMO (GERO), G4113034044, G4311315986, G4369319813, G4640790926, NEXT GENERATION OF WHOLE-BRAIN COMPUTATIONAL MODELS FOR UNDERSTANDING AND MODULATING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES., G4793606769, G4871396859, Leveraging the Electronic Health Record and Integrating Social and Biological Data to Expand Dementia Research in Understudied Populations in Los Angeles County, G4917570370, G5122713930, G5163463781, Support to the Differential Diagnosis of Dementia Through Electroencephalogram-Based Biomarkers, G5521036690, G552479169, ElectroTools, G5593567734, G5765861658, G61846566, SENSITIVE NEUROCOGNITIVE MARKERS OF NEURODEGENERATION A MULTI-FEATURE FRAMEWORK, G6589930969, G6619092739, G7145308058, G7217838667, G7335310789, G7458789856, NATURAL SPEECH MARKERS OF NEURODEGENERATION AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH FOR DISEASE DISCRIMINATION AND SYMPTOM TRACKING, G7939647379, MAPPING AND MODELING THE HEALTHY AND PATHOLOGICAL AGING TRAJECTORIES OF THE HUMAN BRAIN, G8663113341, G883642430, G9000002594, G9000011571, G9000053027, G9000079995, G9000123810, G9000143187, G9000158488, G9000197953, G9000202298, G9000333484, G9000360312
OpenAlex ID: W4407464299