Abstract
Background Cognitive dysfunction is a major feature of Parkinson's disease (PD), but the pathophysiology remains unknown. One potential mechanism is abnormal low-frequency cortical rhythms which engage cognitive functions and are deficient in PD. We tested the hypothesis that mid-frontal delta/theta rhythms predict cognitive dysfunction in PD. Method We recruited 100 patients with PD and 49 demographically similar control participants who completed a series of cognitive control tasks, including the Simon, oddball and interval-timing tasks. We focused on cue-evoked delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-7 Hz) rhythms from a single mid-frontal EEG electrode (cranial vertex (Cz)) in patients with PD who were either cognitively normal, with mild-cognitive impairments (Parkinson's disease with mild-cognitive impairment) or had dementia (Parkinson's disease dementia). Results We found that PD-related cognitive dysfunction was associated with increased response latencies and decreased mid-frontal delta power across all tasks. Within patients with PD, the first principal component of evoked electroencephalography features from a single electrode (Cz) strongly correlated with clinical metrics such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score (r=0.34) and with National Institutes of Health Toolbox Executive Function score (r=0.46). Conclusions These data demonstrate that cue-evoked mid-frontal delta/theta rhythms directly relate to cognition in PD. Our results provide insight into the nature of low-frequency frontal rhythms and suggest that PD-related cognitive dysfunction results from decreased delta/theta activity. These findings could facilitate the development of new biomarkers and targeted therapies for cognitive symptoms of PD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 945-953 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry |
Volume | 94 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2023 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Keywords
- COGNITION
- EEG
- PARKINSON'S DISEASE
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural