Case series: Slowing alpha rhythm in late-stage ALS patients

Matthias R Hohmann; Tatiana Fomina; Vinay Jayaram; Theresa Emde; Jennifer Just; Matthis Synofzik; Bernhard Schölkopf; Ludger Schöls; Moritz Grosse-Wentrup

doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2017.11.013

Case series: Slowing alpha rhythm in late-stage ALS patients

Clin Neurophysiol. 2018 Feb;129(2):406-408. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.11.013. Epub 2017 Nov 26.

Authors

Matthias R Hohmann¹, Tatiana Fomina², Vinay Jayaram², Theresa Emde², Jennifer Just³, Matthis Synofzik⁴, Bernhard Schölkopf⁵, Ludger Schöls³, Moritz Grosse-Wentrup⁶

Affiliations

¹ Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Department for Empirical Inference, Max-Planck-Ring 4, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; International Max Planck Research School for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, Österbergstr. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: matthias.hohmann@tuebingen.mpg.de.
² Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Department for Empirical Inference, Max-Planck-Ring 4, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; International Max Planck Research School for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, Österbergstr. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
³ Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Neurology, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Ottfried-Müller-Str. 23, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
⁴ Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Neurology, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
⁵ Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Department for Empirical Inference, Max-Planck-Ring 4, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
⁶ Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Department for Empirical Inference, Max-Planck-Ring 4, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Department of Statistics, Ludwigstr. 33, 80539 Munich, Germany.

PMID: 29291492
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.11.013

Abstract

The alpha peak frequency (APF) of the human electroencephalogram (EEG) is a reliable neurophysiological marker for cognitive abilities. In these case series, we document a shift of the APF towards the lower end of the EEG spectrum in two completely locked-in ALS patients. In not completely locked-in ALS patients, the alpha rhythm lies within the common frequency range. We discuss potential implications of this shift for the largely unknown cognitive state of completely locked-in ALS patients.

Publication types

Letter
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Alpha Rhythm / physiology*
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / physiopathology*
Brain / physiopathology*
Electroencephalography
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged