Abstract
Vagus somatosensory evoked potentials (VSEP) have been shown to have higher latencies with aging, which are even more increased in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and subjects with mild cognitive impairment compared to age-matched healthy controls. In this study, the association of VSEP with subjective memory impairment (SMI), a potential risk or prodromal marker for Alzheimer’s disease, was examined. The association of VSEP latencies and SMI was studied in a healthy risk cohort, including 358 elderly subjects, who are in a longitudinal study of risk factors for neurodegenerative disorders. The results show increased VSEP latencies for peak P2 at Fz–F4 in subjects who report SMI and are worried about it as compared to subjects who report memory impairment, but are not concerned and subjects without complaints. The results support a potential role of VSEP for the detection of very early neurodegenerative processes which may precede Alzheimer’s disease.
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Abbreviations
- AD:
-
Alzheimer’s disease
- ApoE4:
-
Apolipoprotein E4
- BDI:
-
Beck’s depression inventory
- CAMDEX:
-
Cambridge examination for mental disorders of the elderly
- CERAD:
-
Consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s disease
- EEG:
-
Electroencephalography
- GDS:
-
Geriatric depression scale
- Hz:
-
Hertz
- kHz:
-
Kilohertz
- mA:
-
Milliampere
- ms:
-
Milliseconds
- MDI:
-
Major depression inventory
- MMST:
-
Mini-mental status examination
- N1:
-
Negativum 1
- P1/P2:
-
Positivum 1/positivum 2
- PD:
-
Parkinson’s disease
- SMI:
-
Subjective memory impairment
- TREND study:
-
Tuebinger evaluation of risk factors for the early detection of NeuroDegeneration
- VSEP:
-
Vagus somatosensory evoked potentials
- µV:
-
Microvolt
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their thanks to the TREND study team for their support with the measurements and especially to Ramona Taeglich also for her valued technical assistance. Moreover, the authors thank the participants for their participation in the TREND study. Furthermore, the authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of all members of the TREND study consortium participating form March 2011 to April 2012.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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This study is part of the dissertation of Katja Hagen.
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Hagen, K., Ehlis, AC., Haeussinger, F.B. et al. The relation of SMI and the VSEP in a risk sample for neurodegenerative disorders. J Neural Transm 122, 1167–1174 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1351-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1351-7