Exploring Task-Related EEG for Cross-Subject Early Alzheimer’s Disease Susceptibility Prediction in Middle-Aged Adults Using Multitaper Spectral Analysis

The early prediction of Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in healthy individuals remains a significant challenge. This study investigates the feasibility of task-state EEG signals for improving detection accuracy. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected from the Multi-Source Interference Task (MSIT) and Sternberg Memory Task (STMT). Time-frequency features were extracted using the Multitaper method, followed by multidimensional reduction techniques. Subspace features (F24 and F216) were selected via <i>t</i>-tests and False Discovery Rate (FDR) multiple comparisons correction, and subsequently analyzed in the Time-Frequency Area Average Test (TFAAT) and Prefrontal Beta Time Series Test (PBTST). The experimental results reveal that the MSIT task achieves optimal cross-subject classification performance using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) approach with the TFAAT feature set, yielding a Receiver Operating Characteristic Area Under the Curve (ROC AUC) of 58%. Similarly, the Sternberg Memory Task demonstrates classification ability with the logistic regression model applied to the PBTST feature set, emphasizing the beta band power spectrum in the prefrontal cortex as a potential marker of AD risk. These findings confirm that task-state EEG provides stronger classification potential compared to resting-state EEG, offering valuable insights for advancing early AD prediction research.