Resting EEG Periodic and Aperiodic Components Predict Cognitive Decline Over 10 Years.

Measures of intrinsic brain function at rest assessed noninvasively from the scalp using electroencephalography (EEG) show promise as predictors of cognitive decline in humans. Using data from 234 participants from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) longitudinal study, we found two resting EEG markers (individual peak alpha frequency and aperiodic exponent) interacted to predict cognitive decline over a span of 10 years. Follow-up analyses revealed that "mismatched" markers (i.e., high in one and low in the other) predicted greater cognitive decline compared to "matching" markers. Because of the low cost and ease of collecting EEG data at rest, the current research provides evidence for possible scalable clinical applications for identifying individuals at risk for accelerated cognitive decline.