Alpha–theta border EEG abnormalities in preclinical Huntington's disease

Abstract Background Brain dysfunction precedes clinical manifestation of Huntington's disease (HD) by decades. This study was aimed to determine whether resting EEG is altered in preclinical HD mutations carriers (pre-HD). Methods We examined relative power of broad traditional EEG bands as well as 1-Hz sub-bands of theta and alpha from the resting-state EEG of 29 pre-HD individuals and of 29 age-matched normal controls. Results The relative power of the narrow sub-band in the border of theta–alpha (7–8 Hz) was significantly reduced in pre-HD subjects as compared to normal controls, while the alterations in relative power of the broad frequency bands were not significant. In pre-HD subjects, the number of CAG repeats in the huntingtin ( HTT ) gene as well as the disease burden score (DBS) showed a positive correlation with relative power of the delta and theta frequency bands and their sub-bands and a negative correlation with alpha band relative power and the differences of relative power of the 7–8 Hz and 4–5 Hz frequency sub-bands. Conclusion The obtained results suggest that EEG alterations in pre-HD individuals may be related to the course of the pathological process and to HD endophenotype. Analysis of the narrow EEG bands was found to be more useful for assessing EEG alterations in pre-HD individuals than a more traditional approach using broad bandwidths.