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Temporal frequency deficit in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type

A visual evoked potential study

Department of Clinical Neurophysiology (Drs. Tobimatsu and Kato), Neurological Institute, Kyushu University; Imazu Red Cross Hospital (Drs. Hamada and Okayama); and Katsuyama Hospital (Dr. Fukui), Fukuoka, Japan.

To study the temporal aspect of visual processing of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT), we recorded the steady-state visual evoked potentials (VEPs) to LED goggle stimulation at five different temporal frequencies in 14 patients with SDAT and 14 control subjects. For comparison, we also studied 14 patients with vascular dementia (VD). All subjects were women, and their ages were closely matched. Temporal frequencies were 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 Hz. The steady-state VEPs were Fourier analyzed, and both the amplitude and phase of the first and second harmonic responses were obtained. There was a significant difference in the amplitude across the three groups for stimulation at 15, 20, and 30 Hz, but no difference at a stimulation of 5 and 10 Hz. Multiple comparison tests revealed that patients with SDAT had a significantly smaller amplitude than normal controls. Patients with VD had lower amplitudes than normal subjects, but this was not statistically significant. In the phase data, there were also no statistically significant differences across the three groups for any of the temporal frequencies. These results indicate that a temporal frequency deficit exists in SDAT. This phenomenon may be explained by the pathology that affects the early stage of visual signal processing.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Shozo Tobimatsu, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University 60, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 812, Japan.

Received November 5, 1993. Accepted in final form January 18, 1994.