Stimulus-induced gamma rhythms are weaker in human elderly with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in elderly adds substantially to socioeconomic burden necessitating early diagnosis. While recent studies in rodent models of AD have suggested diagnostic and therapeutic value for gamma rhythms in brain, the same has not been rigorously tested in humans. In this case-control study, we recruited a large population (N = 244; 106 females) of elderly (>49 years) subjects from the community, who viewed large gratings that induced strong gamma oscillations in their electroencephalogram (EEG). These subjects were classified as healthy (N = 227), mild cognitively impaired (MCI; N = 12), or AD (N = 5) based on clinical history and Clinical Dementia Rating scores. Surprisingly, stimulus-induced gamma rhythms, but not alpha or steady-state visually evoked responses, were significantly lower in MCI/AD subjects compared to their age- and gender-matched controls. This reduction was not due to differences in eye movements or baseline power. Our results suggest that gamma could be used as a potential screening tool for MCI/AD in humans.