Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that cognitive control processes are impaired in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI); however the nature of these alterations needs further examination. The current study examined differences in electroencephalographic theta and alpha power related to cognitive control processes involving response execution and response inhibition in 22 individuals with aMCI and 22 age-, sex-, and education-matched cognitively normal controls. Two Go/NoGo tasks involving semantic categorization were used. In the basic categorization task, Go/NoGo responses were made based on exemplars of a single car (Go) and a single dog (NoGo). In the superordinate categorization task, responses were made based on multiple exemplars of objects (Go) and animals (NoGo). Behavioral data showed that the aMCI group had more false alarms during the NoGo trials compared to controls. The EEG data revealed between group differences related to response type in theta (4–7 Hz) and low-frequency alpha (8–10 Hz) power. In particular, the aMCI group differed from controls in theta power during the NoGo trials at frontal and parietal electrodes, and in low-frequency alpha power during Go trials at parietal electrodes. These results suggest that alterations in theta power converge with behavioral deterioration in response inhibition, whereas alterations in low-frequency alpha power appear to precede behavioral changes in response execution. Both behavioral and electrophysiological correlates combined provide a more comprehensive characterization of cognitive control deficits in aMCI.
Highlights
Amnestic mild cognitive impairment represents an intermediate stage between normal cognitive aging and dementia in which individuals exhibit a greater decline in cognition than what is expected for their age and education, but is not severe enough to warrant a diagnosis of dementia (Albert et al, 2011; Sperling et al, 2011)
The current study examined Event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) differences between amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and cognitively normal control groups related to response execution and response inhibition using two Go/NoGo tasks that involved semantic categorization
The aMCI group differed from the control group on NoGo trials in false alarm rates and theta power, and on Go trials in low-frequency alpha power
Summary
Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) represents an intermediate stage between normal cognitive aging and dementia in which individuals exhibit a greater decline in cognition than what is expected for their age and education, but is not severe enough to warrant a diagnosis of dementia (Albert et al, 2011; Sperling et al, 2011). Go/NoGo Theta, Alpha in aMCI experience declines in other cognitive domains, including cognitive control (Traykov et al, 2007; Brandt et al, 2009; Zheng et al, 2012). A handful of behavioral studies have noted cognitive control deficits in individuals with mild cognitive decline relative to cognitively normal controls on Erickson flanker (Wylie et al, 2007), Stroop (Traykov et al, 2007; Belanger et al, 2010), Stop-signal (Zheng et al, 2014), and Go/NoGo (Tripathi et al, 2015) tasks, while others have failed to note such deficits (Belleville et al, 2007; Zhang et al, 2007). Given that neuropathological changes associated with dementia are present years before behavioral manifestations (Jack et al, 2013), functional neurocognitive techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) may add to our understanding of cognitive control deficits in aMCI
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