Neuroimaging of EEG Rhythms at Resting State in Normal Elderly Adults: A Standard Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography Study.

PURPOSE Brain source mechanisms of the cortical EEG brainwave at the resting state in the elderly during normal aging are rarely known. To solve the problem, we use a standard low-resolution electromagnetic tomography to explore the brain source mechanisms on the effects of healthy aging on brain function at the resting state. METHODS Eye-closed EEG signals at resting state were sampled in 13 normal elderly adults and 17 normal young adults. The EEG rhythms by frequency band, delta, theta, alpha 1, alpha 2, beta 1, and beta 2 were of interest for this analysis. Brain sources of these rhythms were estimated by standard low-resolution electromagnetic tomography. RESULTS Statistical results demonstrated that central, parietal, occipital, and temporal alpha 1 and theta brain sources presented the pattern normal young adults > normal elderly adults (P normal young adults (P < 0.05). Moreover, the same is true that amplitude of central, parietal, occipital, and temporal alpha 2 brain sources were lower in normal elderly adults compared with those in normal young adults (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS These results imply that normal aging is linked to cortical neural desynchronization of alpha and delta rhythms and synchronization of beta rhythm in central, parietal, and frontal cortices at resting state.