Objective      To study the clinical significance of electroencephalogram (EEG) in the patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and senile depressive pseudo-dementia (PD) by comparatively analyzing their EEG abnormalities.       Methods      Patients with AD and PD who had been treated in our hospital from October 2011 to October 2014 were enrolled for the study. Each group contained 25 cases. The rate of EEG abnormality

basic electrical activity

mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score and the correlation between the MMSE score and EEG abnormality were compared between the AD and PD groups.       Results      The EEG abnormality was more severe in the patients with AD compared to those with PD. A slower electrical activity was found in the AD group than the PD group (92% vs 76%). Also the MMSE score of AD patients was lower than that of PD patients

with a significantly higher proportion of mental abnormality (P0.05). This suggested that the severity of dementia was closely related to EEG abnormality.       Conclusion      Compared with elderly patients with depressive PD

patients with AD have more abnormal EEG manifesting with decreased electrical activity. Furthermore

the EEG abnormality is correlated to more severe dementia in PD patients.