# Noninvasive Low-cost Biomarkers for Preclinical Diagnosis and Longitudinal Tracking of Alzheimer's Disease Using Sleep and Resting State EEG

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $826,867

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The objective of this research is to develop low-cost, non-invasive, electrophysiological biomarkers of brain
amyloid and neurodegeneration in patients with Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD) using the
sleep and resting state electroencephalogram (EEG). Diagnostic criteria recently developed for “Preclinical”
and “Prodromal” AD hinge upon measurements of beta-amyloid (Aβ) and changes in brain structure and func-
tion. Unfortunately, these “gold standard” biomarkers are too expensive (~$3k/patient), invasive, or specialized
for large-scale screening efforts. Thus, there is urgent need for novel cost-effective biomarkers that are rigor-
ously linked to established criteria for Preclinical AD. There is a growing appreciation that brain oscillations ob-
served in the sleep and resting state EEG are closely associated with underlying AD pathophysiology. It is well
known that AD dementia is associated with disrupted sleep dynamics and altered sleep oscillations. Clearance
of cerebral Aβ through the brain's glial lymphatic or “glymphatic” system occurs specifically during non-rapid
eye movement (NREM) sleep, and is dependent on EEG slow oscillation activity. The cortical generators of
sleep and resting state EEG oscillations, which can be estimated using source localization, overlap with brain
regions that display cortical thinning and loss of functional connectivity in AD. These relationships have not
been extensively studied in preclinical nor prodromal AD. We therefore propose to 1) characterize the rela-
tionship between quantitative measures of sleep and resting state EEG and neuroimaging AD bi-
omarkers, 2) use these novel relationships alongside known AD-related changes in the EEG to develop
EEG-based predictors of AD, and 3) develop a framework for translating these findings into low-cost
(as little as $20), highly-scalable tools for screening and tracking of preclinical and prodromal AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9956961
- **Project number:** 5R01AG054081-04
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** BRADFORD C DICKERSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $826,867
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9956961

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9956961, Noninvasive Low-cost Biomarkers for Preclinical Diagnosis and Longitudinal Tracking of Alzheimer's Disease Using Sleep and Resting State EEG (5R01AG054081-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9956961. Licensed CC0.

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