Quantitative electroencephalography as a marker of cognitive fluctuations in dementia with Lewy bodies and an aid to differential diagnosis

Publication date: June 2018
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 129, Issue 6
Author(s): Myrto Stylianou, Nicholas Murphy, Luis R. Peraza, Sara Graziadio, Ruth Cromarty, Alison Killen, John T. O' Brien, Alan J. Thomas, Fiona E.N. LeBeau, John-Paul Taylor
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.



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