Introduction: 

Reductions of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-beta (Aβ42) and elevated phosphorylated-tau (p-Tau) reflect in vivo Alzheimer׳s disease (AD) pathology and show utility in predicting conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia. We investigated the P50 event-related potential component as a noninvasive biomarker of AD pathology in non-demented elderly.

Methods:

36 MCI patients were stratified into amyloid positive (MCI-AD, n=17) and negative (MCI-Other, n=19) groups using CSF levels of Aβ42. All amyloid positive patients were also p-Tau positive. P50s were elicited with an auditory oddball paradigm.

Results:

MCI-AD patients yielded larger P50s than MCI-Other. The best amyloid-status predictor model showed 94.7% sensitivity, 94.1% specificity and 94.4% total accuracy.

Discussion:

P50 predicted amyloid status in MCI patients, thereby showing a relationship with AD pathology versus MCI from another etiology. The P50 may have clinical utility for inexpensive pre-screening and assessment of Alzheimer׳s pathology.