Jinhan Park1, Rachel Ho1, Sotiris Mitropanopoulos2, Melissa Armstrong3, David Vaillancourt1, Stephen Coombes1, Shannon Chiu2
1Applied Physiology & Kinesiology, University of Florida, 2Neurology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, 3UF Department of Neurology
Objective:
To evaluate task-based electroencephalography (EEG) in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)
Background:
Posterior slowing on EEG during resting-states is a supportive biomarker in DLB. The utility of task-based EEG (tsEEG) paradigms to assess cortical activity in DLB is unclear.
Design/Methods:
Resting-state (rsEEG) and tsEEG data were collected from 128 channels in 25 cognitively unimpaired adults (mean age 70.1±9.8 years; 40% male) and individuals with DLB or mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB) (6=DLB, 6=MCI-LB; mean age 71.0±6.0 years; 75% male) from the 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at the University of Florida. All participants completed demographic and clinical evaluations. During tsEEG, participants performed a visually guided grip force task with high or low visual gain. Error scores were calculated from the behavioral data, and EEG data were analyzed using a beamformer technique to localize cortical oscillations in time-frequency windows (alpha, beta, theta).
Results:
DLB/MCI-LB cohort had lower total Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores (20.8±2.6 versus 25.3±2.7; p<0.01). DLB/MCI-LB group had slower peak alpha frequency during rsEEG (7.4±1.1 Hz versus 9.4±1.0 Hz; p<0.001). Individuals with DLB/MCI-LB also exhibited higher offset and steeper slope for aperiodic components during rsEEG. During the grip force task, individuals with DLB/MCI-LB had greater force error, and did not show the expected reduction in error from low to high visual gain that was evident in controls. tsEEG showed a significant group difference where DLB/MCI-LB had an attenuated reduction in low beta power (14-22 Hz) in occipital regions (pFDR<0.05) compared to the control group, across both visual gain conditions.
Conclusions:
The rsEEG dominant frequency was significantly slower in DLB/MCI-LB, consistent with prior studies. Individuals with DLB/MCI-LB performed worse during the motor task, possibly modulated by decreased neuronal activation in posterior occipital regions. This is a promising task-based paradigm to better understand changes in cortical neuronal activity in DLB.
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