Abstract
ObjectiveWe investigated for quantitative EEG (QEEG) differences between Alzheimer’s disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) patients and healthy controls, and for QEEG signatures of cognitive fluctuations (CFs) in DLB. MethodsWe analysed eyes-closed, resting state EEGs from 18 AD, 17 DLB and 17 PDD patients with mild dementia, and 21 age-matched controls. Measures included spectral power, dominant frequency (DF), frequency prevalence (FP), and temporal DF variability (DFV), within defined EEG frequency bands and cortical regions. ResultsDLB and PDD patients showed a leftward shift in the power spectrum and DF. AD patients showed greater DFV compared to the other groups. In DLB patients only, greater DFV and EEG slowing were correlated with CFs, measured by the clinician assessment of fluctuations (CAF) scale. The diagnostic accuracy of the QEEG measures was 94% (90.4–97.9%), with 92.26% (80.4–100%) sensitivity and 83.3% (73.6–93%) specificity. ConclusionAlthough greater DFV was only shown in the AD group, within the DLB group a positive DFV – CF correlation was found. QEEG measures could classify DLB and AD patients with high sensitivity and specificity. SignificanceThe findings add to an expanding literature suggesting that EEG is a viable diagnostic and symptom biomarker in dementia, particularly DLB.
Highlights
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for approximately 10–15% of cases at autopsy (McKeith et al, 2004)
In our analysis we looked within four different cortical regions compared to three regions previously reported (Bonanni et al, 2016, 2008), and analysed three measures of EEG spectral distribution, the frequency prevalence (FP), dominant frequency (DF) and power, all of which indicated a greater EEG slowing in DLB/Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) patients compared to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and controls
Our findings confirm the well-established slowing of the EEG in the Lewy body dementia groups compared to healthy controls and AD patients
Summary
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for approximately 10–15% of cases at autopsy (McKeith et al, 2004). DLB is associated with quality of life and significant carer burden. It is frequently underdiagnosed and often misdiagnosed as AD, especially at early stages where both diseases manifest with similar cognitive deficits (Metzler-Baddeley, 2007).
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