Differentiating Pathologic Delta From Healthy Physiologic Delta in Patients With Alzheimer Disease

In patients with Alzheimer disease, the electroencephalogram during wakefulness shows pathologic signs of abundant, diffuse, large-amplitude delta activity. The carryover of this abnormal delta activity into non-rapid eye movement sleep raises the question of whether the observed delta electroencephalographic activity during sleep in Alzheimer disease in any way reflects normal physiologic delta activity slow-wave sleep. The objective of the study was to compare patients with Alzheimer disease with age-matched controls using an experimentally controlled procedure that can test the capacity of the nervous system to generate physiologic delta-frequency responses during sleep.