Cardiovascular Research
Migraine and Cognition and Brain Integration Lab, Xianghong Arakaki
Alpha rhythm and Alzheimer's disease: Has Hans Berger's dream come true?
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
Journal: Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
Publication Type: Historical Article
Date: 2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2025.02.256
ID: 39978053
Affiliations:
Affiliations
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; San Raffaele of Cassino, Cassino, (FR), Italy. Electronic address: claudio.babiloni@uniroma1.it.|||Cognition and Brain Integration Laboratory, Neurosciences, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, CA, USA.|||Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia; Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of California, San Francisco, USA; Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|||Brain & Behaviour Research Institute and School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia.|||Neurology Unit, Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.|||Department of Biomedical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Poland; Nalecz Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Warsaw, Poland.|||Department of Medicine, Aging Sciences University G. d'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara Chieti 66100 Chieti, Italy.|||Neurology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; Molecular Markers Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia 25125, Italy.|||Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.|||Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Brain Connectivity Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome, Italy; Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, Novedrate, Como, Italy.|||Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Clinical Neurophysiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia.|||Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy.|||Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile.|||Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy.|||Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|||Institute for Imaging, Data and Communications, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, UK.|||Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy.|||The University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences 5841 S Maryland Avenue Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.|||Engineering, Modeling and Applied Social Sciences Center, Federal University of ABC, Santo André, Brazil.|||Department of Neurology, Hospitals of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.|||Department of Neurology, Hospitals of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.|||Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey; Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey.|||Department of Neurology, Shenzhen People's Hospital and The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China; Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|||Cognito Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.|||Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 7D37, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1428, USA.|||Sorbonne University, Alzheimer Precision Medicine, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Boulevard de l'hôpital, F-75013 Paris, France.|||Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey; Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey.|||Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.|||MINDIG, F-35000 Rennes, France; School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland.|||Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.|||Neurocognitive Research Centre, Nyírő Gyula National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictology, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Research Centre for Natural Sciences, HUN-REN, Budapest, Hungary.|||Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile; Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Universidad de San Andrés, Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina.|||Rehabilitation Bioengineering Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome, Italy.|||Centre for Age-Related Medicine (SESAM), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway; Grupo de Neurociencias de Antioquia (GNA), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.|||Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, South Korea.|||Aging Brain and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA; Sanders Brown Center on Aging, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.|||Department of Biomedical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Poland.|||Human Physiology Unit, Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; Experimental Neuropsychophysiology Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.|||Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|||Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy.|||Real World Evidence & Medical Value, Global Medical Affairs, Neurology, Eisai Inc., New Jersey, USA.|||Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Oasi Research Institute - IRCCS, Troina, Italy.|||Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Oasi Research Institute - IRCCS, Troina, Italy.|||Center For Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.|||Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy; Memory Clinic, Foundation Policlinico Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.|||Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Engineering and Geology, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti and Pescara, Pescara, Italy.|||Department of Psychological Sciences & Health, University of Strathclyde, Graham Hills Building, 40 George Street, Glasgow, UK.|||Brain Connectivity Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome, Italy; Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, Novedrate, Como, Italy.|||Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Universidad de San Andrés, Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|||Alzheimer's Rehabilitation Operative Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, 25125 Brescia, Italy.|||School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK; NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds, UK.|||IRCCS Synlab SDN, Naples, Italy.|||Brain Connectivity Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome, Italy.|||Neurophysiology Laboratory GNA-GRUNECO. Universidad de Antioquia, Antioquia, Colombia.|||Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer," Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.|||Neurology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; Department of Continuity of Care and Frailty, Neurology Unit, ASST Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy; Neurobiorepository and Laboratory of Advanced Biological Markers, University of Brescia, ASST Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy; Laboratory of Digital Neurology and Biosensors, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; Brain Health Center, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.|||Brain Connectivity Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome, Italy; Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, Novedrate, Como, Italy.|||Department of Psychological Sciences & Health, University of Strathclyde, Graham Hills Building, 40 George Street, Glasgow, UK.|||Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy.|||The KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Zurich, Switzerland.|||Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany; University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.|||Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy.|||Escuela de Fonoaudiología, Facultad de Odontología y Ciencias de la Rehabilitación, Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile.|||Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, PhIND "Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders", NeuroPresage Team, GIP Cyceron, 14000 Caen, France.|||Berlin Institute of Health, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Bernstein Focus State Dependencies of Learning and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany; Einstein Center for Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Einstein Center Digital Future, Berlin, Germany.|||IRCCS Synlab SDN, Naples, Italy.|||Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PhD Program in Neuroscience), Bogotá, Colombia; Center of Memory and Cognition Intellectus, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio Bogotá, San Ignacio, Colombia.|||Berlin Institute of Health, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Bernstein Focus State Dependencies of Learning and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany; Einstein Center for Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Einstein Center Digital Future, Berlin, Germany.|||IRCCS Synlab SDN, Naples, Italy; Department of Medical, Movement and Wellbeing Sciences, University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy.|||Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.|||Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.|||Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione (ISTC), Roma, Italy.|||German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Rostock, Rostock, Germany.|||Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Sankt Augustin, Germany.|||Neurophysiology of Epilepsy Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.|||Cuban Center for Neuroscience, Havana, Cuba.|||Cuban Center for Neuroscience, Havana, Cuba; The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.|||Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia; Brain Connectivity Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome, Italy.|||Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|||The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.|||Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey; Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Izmir, Turkey.|||Department of Neurology & Stroke, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|||Neurocognitive Research Centre, Nyírő Gyula National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictology, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Neurosurgery and Neurointervention and Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
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.