RESUMO
Evoked response potentials (ERPs) to brief flashes of light were analyzed for constituent features that could be used to distinguish individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 15) from matched control subjects (n = 17). Statistical k nearest-neighbor methods distinguished AD from control with a maximum sensitivity of 29% and false alarm rate of 12%. The comparable sensitivity/false-alarm values for a statistical projection pursuit method and an extended projection pursuit method, which selectively identify discriminative features for classification, were 75%/18% and 100%/6%, respectively. The results demonstrate that combinations of selected ERP time segments across different electrodes contain signal features that discriminate AD from control subjects with high sensitivity and specificity.
