Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true?

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

doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256

Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true?

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

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	33-50
Number of pages	18
Journal	Clinical Neurophysiology
Volume	172
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256
State	Published - Apr 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s)

Funding

This paper has been produced by a multidisciplinary panel of neurologists, psychiatrists, clinical neurophysiologists, psychologists, computer scientists, and biophysicists from the Special Interest Group on “Advanced EEG/MEG Techniques in Clinical Neurophysiology” of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (https://www.ifcn.info/get-involved/special-interest-groups/advanced-eeg-meg-techniquesin-clinical-neurophysiology), the PDWAVES Consortium (https://www.pdwaves.eu/), the Electrophysiology Professional Interest Area of the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (https://istaart.alz.org/PIAs), Latin America and the Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC-CD) (http://lac-cd.org/), EuroLad EEG consortium (https://bit.ly/4ctCJzi), the ReDLat consortium (https://red-lat.com/), eBRAIN-Health (https://ebrain-health.eu/home.html), EBRAINS (https://www.ebrains.eu/), AI-mind (https://www.ai-mind.eu/), and the Global Brain Consortium (https://globalbrainconsortium.org/). It is important to note that the views and considerations expressed here do not necessarily reflect the official positions of their respective institutions. ClaBab is supported by the European -INFRA-2021-TECH-01 “eBRAIN Health” project (Grant Agreement: GAP-101058516). XiaAra is supported by NIH grant R01AG063857. LauBon is supported by the PRIN2022 project (Grant: 2022YXEP5T) titled “Assessment of brain functions in Lewy Body disease patients using telemonitoring DIGITAL markers as inputs to artificial intelligence (LBDigital).”, ClaDPer is supported by the PRIN2022 project (Grant: 2022FJAXY8) titled “Amyloid-related cortical excitability in patients with MCI due to Alzheimer's disease.”, AguIba is supported by grants from ReDLat [National Institutes of Health and the Fogarty International Center (FIC), National Institutes of Aging (R01 AG057234, R01 AG075775, AG021051, R01 AG083799, CARDSNIH 75N95022C00031), Alzheimer's Association (SG-20-725707), Rainwater Charitable Foundation, The Bluefield project to cure FTD, and Global Brain Health Institute)], ANID/FONDECYT Regular (1210195, 1210176 and 1220995); and ANID/FONDAP/15150012; and the STI 2030–Major Projects 2022ZD0208500. The contents of this publication are solely the author's responsibility and do not represent the official views of these institutions. JosCru is supported by ANID FONDECYT Postdoctorado #3240042. J-PTay is supported by the Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre., FaiMus is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/X008428/1). IraHar is supported by the European -INFRA-2021-TECH-01 “eBRAIN Health” project (Grant Agreement: GAP-101058516). HarHam is an employee of Eisai Inc. He contributed to this manuscript as part of his academic position at Sorbonne University (Paris, France), supported by the Program “PHOENIX.”, PetRit is supported by the European -INFRA-2021-TECH-01 “eBRAIN Health” project (Grant Agreement: GAP-101058516). MicSch is supported by the European -INFRA-2021-TECH-01 “eBRAIN Health” project (Grant Agreement: GAP-101058516). AntITri and MarHal are supported by funding from the NINDS Intramural Research Program. The contents of this publication are solely the author's responsibility and do not represent the official views of the institution. KeiVos is supported by NIH grants UH2 AG083254, R01 NS033310, R01 AG075955, and R01 AG058820. FraFra is supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant number #2023/05344-1 and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific Development (CNPq, grant number#305230/2022-0). SteTei is supported by the project HORIZON 2021, H2021-MSCA-DN-2021 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks “CombiDiag.”, YanJia is supported by the United States National Institute of Health and the National Institute of Aging (P01AG078116, P30AG072946), AniKam is supported by the National Brain Research Program III (NAP2022-I-9/2022), the Momentum Research Grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Lendulet-2023_94) and the Hungarian Scientific Research Found of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary (OTKA-K_23_146792, 146936). PetRit is supported by the European -INFRA-2021-TECH-01 “eBRAIN Health” project (Grant Agreement: GAP-101058516). MicSch is supported by the European -INFRA-2021-TECH-01 “eBRAIN Health” project (Grant Agreement: GAP-101058516). AniKam is supported by the National Brain Research Program III (NAP2022-I-9/2022), the Momentum Research Grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Lendulet-2023_94) and the Hungarian Scientific Research Found of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary (OTKA-K_23_146792, 146936). KeiVos is supported by NIH grants UH2 AG083254, R01 NS033310, R01 AG075955, and R01 AG058820. FraFra is supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant number #2023/05344-1 and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific Development (CNPq, grant number#305230/2022-0). FaiMus is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/X008428/1). XiaAra is supported by NIH grant R01AG063857. LauBon is supported by the PRIN2022 project (Grant: 2022YXEP5T) titled “Assessment of brain functions in Lewy Body disease patients using telemonitoring DIGITAL markers as inputs to artificial intelligence (LBDigital).” ClaDPer is supported by the PRIN2022 project (Grant: 2022FJAXY8) titled “Amyloid-related cortical excitability in patients with MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease.”

Funders	Funder number
Eisai
Rainwater Charitable Foundation
International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
EBRAINS
Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment
Brazilian National Council for Scientific Development
NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre
Latin America and the Caribbean Consortium on Dementia
Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo
Sorbonne Université
Fogarty International Center
Global Brain Consortium	GAP-101058516, INFRA-2021-TECH-01
Hungarian Scientific Research Found of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office	146936, OTKA-K_23_146792
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council	R01 NS033310, R01 AG075955, UH2 AG083254, R01 AG058820
Vicente Medel is supported by ANID/FONDECYT de Iniciacin 11251578, ANID/FONDECYT Exploracin 13240170.	3240042
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico	305230/2022-0
National Brain Research Program III	NAP2022-I-9/2022
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo	2023/05344-1
Magyar Tudományos Akadémia	Lendulet-2023_94
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council	BB/X008428/1
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services \| NIH \| National Institute on Aging (U.S. National Institute on Aging)	AG021051, P01AG078116, R01 AG057234, R01 AG083799, R01 AG075775, P30AG072946
Alzheimer's Association	SG-20-725707
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico	1210195, ANID/FONDAP/15150012, 2022ZD0208500, 1210176, 1220995
CARDSNIH	75N95022C00031
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	2022YXEP5T, R01AG063857, 2022FJAXY8

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Alzheimer's Disease (AD)
Biomarkers
Delta, Theta, and Alpha Rhythms
Hans Berger
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
Resting-State Electroencephalographic (rsEEG) Rhythms

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sensory Systems
Neurology
Clinical Neurology
Physiology (medical)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256

Cite this

Babiloni, C., Arakaki, X., Baez, S., Barry, R. J., Benussi, A., Blinowska, K., Bonanni, L., Borroni, B., Bayard, J. B., Bruno, G., Cacciotti, A., Carducci, F., Carino, J., Carpi, M., Conte, A., Cruzat, J., D'Antonio, F., Della Penna, S., Del Percio, C., ... Kamondi, A. (2025). Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true? Clinical Neurophysiology, 172, 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256

@article{76452cf36f824f2aae10f1824b6e1867,

title = "Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true?",

abstract = "In this {\textquotedblleft}centenary{\textquotedblright} paper, an expert panel revisited Hans Berger's groundbreaking discovery of human restingstate electroencephalographic (rsEEG) alpha rhythms (8{\textendash}12 Hz) in 1924, his foresight of substantial clinical applications in patients with {\textquotedblleft}senile dementia,{\textquotedblright} 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{\textquoteright} quality of life. Berger's vision of using EEG to understand and manage dementia in pathological aging is still actual.",

keywords = "Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Biomarkers, Delta, Theta, and Alpha Rhythms, Hans Berger, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Resting-State Electroencephalographic (rsEEG) Rhythms",

author = "Claudio Babiloni and Xianghong Arakaki and Sandra Baez and Barry, \{Robert J.\} and Alberto Benussi and Katarzyna Blinowska and Laura Bonanni and Barbara Borroni and Bayard, \{Jorge Bosch\} and Giuseppe Bruno and Alessia Cacciotti and Filippo Carducci and John Carino and Matteo Carpi and Antonella Conte and Josephine Cruzat and Fabrizia D'Antonio and \{Della Penna\}, Stefania and \{Del Percio\}, Claudio and \{De Sanctis\}, Pierfilippo and Javier Escudero and Giovanni Fabbrini and Farina, \{Francesca R.\} and Fraga, \{Francisco J.\} and Peter Fuhr and Ute Gschwandtner and Bahar G{\"u}ntekin and Yi Guo and Mihaly Hajos and Mark Hallett and Harald Hampel and Lutfu Hanoğlu and Ira Haraldsen and Mahmoud Hassan and Christoffer Hatlestad-Hall and Horv{\'a}th, \{Andr{\'a}s Attila\} and Agustin Ibanez and Francesco Infarinato and Alberto Jaramillo-Jimenez and Jaeseung Jeong and Yang Jiang and Maciej Kami{\'n}ski and Giacomo Koch and Sanjeev Kumar and Giorgio Leodori and Gang Li and Roberta Lizio and Susanna Lopez and Raffaele Ferri and Fernando Maest{\'u} and Camillo Marra and Laura Marzetti and William McGeown and Francesca Miraglia and Sebastian Moguilner and Moretti, \{Davide V.\} and Faisal Mushtaq and Giuseppe Noce and Lorenzo Nucci and John Ochoa and Paolo Onorati and Alessandro Padovani and Chiara Pappalettera and Parra, \{Mario Alfredo\} and Matteo Pardini and Roberto Pascual-Marqui and Walter Paulus and Vittorio Pizzella and Pavel Prado and G{\'e}raldine Rauchs and Petra Ritter and Marco Salvatore and Hernando Santamaria-Garc{\'i}a and Michael Schirner and Andrea Soricelli and Taylor, \{John Paul\} and Hatice Tankisi and Franca Tecchio and Stefan Teipel and Kodamullil, \{Alpha Tom\} and Triggiani, \{Antonio Ivano\} and Mitchell Valdes-Sosa and Pedro Valdes-Sosa and Fabrizio Vecchio and Keith Vossel and Dezhong Yao and G{\"o}rsev Yener and Ulf Ziemann and Anita Kamondi",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s)",

year = "2025",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256",

language = "English",

volume = "172",

pages = "33--50",

}

Babiloni, C, Arakaki, X, Baez, S, Barry, RJ, Benussi, A, Blinowska, K, Bonanni, L, Borroni, B, Bayard, JB, Bruno, G, Cacciotti, A, Carducci, F, Carino, J, Carpi, M, Conte, A, Cruzat, J, D'Antonio, F, Della Penna, S, Del Percio, C, De Sanctis, P, Escudero, J, Fabbrini, G, Farina, FR, Fraga, FJ, Fuhr, P, Gschwandtner, U, Güntekin, B, Guo, Y, Hajos, M, Hallett, M, Hampel, H, Hanoğlu, L, Haraldsen, I, Hassan, M, Hatlestad-Hall, C, Horváth, AA, Ibanez, A, Infarinato, F, Jaramillo-Jimenez, A, Jeong, J, Jiang, Y, Kamiński, M, Koch, G, Kumar, S, Leodori, G, Li, G, Lizio, R, Lopez, S, Ferri, R, Maestú, F, Marra, C, Marzetti, L, McGeown, W, Miraglia, F, Moguilner, S, Moretti, DV, Mushtaq, F, Noce, G, Nucci, L, Ochoa, J, Onorati, P, Padovani, A, Pappalettera, C, Parra, MA, Pardini, M, Pascual-Marqui, R, Paulus, W, Pizzella, V, Prado, P, Rauchs, G, Ritter, P, Salvatore, M, Santamaria-García, H, Schirner, M, Soricelli, A, Taylor, JP, Tankisi, H, Tecchio, F, Teipel, S, Kodamullil, AT, Triggiani, AI, Valdes-Sosa, M, Valdes-Sosa, P, Vecchio, F, Vossel, K, Yao, D, Yener, G, Ziemann, U & Kamondi, A 2025, 'Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true?', Clinical Neurophysiology, vol. 172, pp. 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256

TY - JOUR

T1 - Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease

T2 - Has Hans Berger's dream come true?

AU - Babiloni, Claudio

AU - Arakaki, Xianghong

AU - Baez, Sandra

AU - Barry, Robert J.

AU - Benussi, Alberto

AU - Blinowska, Katarzyna

AU - Bonanni, Laura

AU - Borroni, Barbara

AU - Bayard, Jorge Bosch

AU - Bruno, Giuseppe

AU - Cacciotti, Alessia

AU - Carducci, Filippo

AU - Carino, John

AU - Carpi, Matteo

AU - Conte, Antonella

AU - Cruzat, Josephine

AU - D'Antonio, Fabrizia

AU - Della Penna, Stefania

AU - Del Percio, Claudio

AU - De Sanctis, Pierfilippo

AU - Escudero, Javier

AU - Fabbrini, Giovanni

AU - Farina, Francesca R.

AU - Fraga, Francisco J.

AU - Fuhr, Peter

AU - Gschwandtner, Ute

AU - Güntekin, Bahar

AU - Guo, Yi

AU - Hajos, Mihaly

AU - Hallett, Mark

AU - Hampel, Harald

AU - Hanoğlu, Lutfu

AU - Haraldsen, Ira

AU - Hassan, Mahmoud

AU - Hatlestad-Hall, Christoffer

AU - Horváth, András Attila

AU - Ibanez, Agustin

AU - Infarinato, Francesco

AU - Jaramillo-Jimenez, Alberto

AU - Jeong, Jaeseung

AU - Jiang, Yang

AU - Kamiński, Maciej

AU - Koch, Giacomo

AU - Kumar, Sanjeev

AU - Leodori, Giorgio

AU - Li, Gang

AU - Lizio, Roberta

AU - Lopez, Susanna

AU - Ferri, Raffaele

AU - Maestú, Fernando

AU - Marra, Camillo

AU - Marzetti, Laura

AU - McGeown, William

AU - Miraglia, Francesca

AU - Moguilner, Sebastian

AU - Moretti, Davide V.

AU - Mushtaq, Faisal

AU - Noce, Giuseppe

AU - Nucci, Lorenzo

AU - Ochoa, John

AU - Onorati, Paolo

AU - Padovani, Alessandro

AU - Pappalettera, Chiara

AU - Parra, Mario Alfredo

AU - Pardini, Matteo

AU - Pascual-Marqui, Roberto

AU - Paulus, Walter

AU - Pizzella, Vittorio

AU - Prado, Pavel

AU - Rauchs, Géraldine

AU - Ritter, Petra

AU - Salvatore, Marco

AU - Santamaria-García, Hernando

AU - Schirner, Michael

AU - Soricelli, Andrea

AU - Taylor, John Paul

AU - Tankisi, Hatice

AU - Tecchio, Franca

AU - Teipel, Stefan

AU - Kodamullil, Alpha Tom

AU - Triggiani, Antonio Ivano

AU - Valdes-Sosa, Mitchell

AU - Valdes-Sosa, Pedro

AU - Vecchio, Fabrizio

AU - Vossel, Keith

AU - Yao, Dezhong

AU - Yener, Görsev

AU - Ziemann, Ulf

AU - Kamondi, Anita

PY - 2025/4

Y1 - 2025/4

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

KW - Biomarkers

KW - Delta, Theta, and Alpha Rhythms

KW - Hans Berger

KW - Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

KW - Resting-State Electroencephalographic (rsEEG) Rhythms

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85217902019

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85217902019#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256

DO - 10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256

M3 - Review article

C2 - 39978053

AN - SCOPUS:85217902019

SN - 1388-2457

VL - 172

SP - 33

EP - 50

JO - Clinical Neurophysiology

JF - Clinical Neurophysiology

ER -

Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true?

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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