Abstract
Objective: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a disease characterized by dream enacting behavior and is now commonly believed to be a harbinger to alpha-synucleinopathy diseases such as dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease, and multiple system atrophy. The aim of this study was to explore the quasi-stable topological structure of the brain in RBD by analyzing resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) microstates.Methods: We enrolled 22 participants with RBD and 46 healthy controls (HCs) with age and gender-matched. After the resting-state EEG recordings were acquired, EEG microstate features were analyzed to assess the functional networks of all participants.Results: Significant differences in the brain topological structure and temporal characteristics of sub-second brain activity were identified between the RBD and HCs. The RBD group had a shorter average duration of microstate A and microstate D when compared with HCs, and microstate B contributed more, while microstate D contributed significantly less to the RBD group. Furthermore, the average duration and proportion of microstate D were negatively correlated with the RBD questionnaire Hong Kong (RBDQ-HK) score.Conclusion: The result of this study indicates that the microstate dynamics is disturbed in RBD, which might jeopardize the flexibility and adaptability of the brain. Microstates are potential biomarkers to explore the early electrophysiological abnormality of alpha-synucleinopathy diseases.
Highlights
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by muscle atonia during REM sleep, which is usually accompanied by vivid dream enactment (Postuma and Berg, 2019)
Significant differences in the brain topological structure and temporal characteristics of sub-second brain activity were identified between the RBD and healthy controls (HCs)
The result of this study indicates that the microstate dynamics is disturbed in RBD, which might jeopardize the flexibility and adaptability of the brain
Summary
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by muscle atonia during REM sleep, which is usually accompanied by vivid dream enactment (Postuma and Berg, 2019). Previous studies showed that nearly 80% of RBD individuals could develop Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other alpha-synucleinopathy diseases within 10–15 years (Iranzo et al, 2014; Postuma and Berg, 2019). Electroencephalography (EEG) microstates are defined as short periods (80–120 ms) during which the EEG scalp topography remains quasi-stable, meaning that the global topography is fixed but strength might vary and polarity invert (Strik and Lehmann, 1993). These microstates have been considered as the building blocks of information processing in the human brain, disruption of which could significantly influence cognitive function (Schumacher et al, 2019). The investigation of temporal aspects of microstate sequences provides us with essential information on the dynamic repertoire across different timescales of the brain (Van de Ville et al, 2010)
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