Abnormal Cortical Neural Synchronization Mechanisms In Quiet Wakefulness Are Related To Motor Deficits, Cognitive Symptoms, And Visual Hallucinations In Parkinson’s Disease Patients: An Electroencephalographic Study

Abstract Compared with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) shows peculiar clinical manifestations related to vigilance (i.e., executive cognitive deficits and visual hallucinations) that may be reflected in resting state electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms. To test this hypothesis, clinical and rsEEG rhythms in age-, sex-, and education-matched PD patients (N = 136) and Alzheimer’s disease patients (AD, N= 85), and healthy older participants (Nold, N = 65) were available from an international archive. EEG sources were estimated by eLORETA software. Results: (1) compared to the Nold participants, the AD and PD patients showed higher widespread delta source activities (PD > AD) and lower posterior alpha source activities (AD > PD); (2) the PD patients with the most pronounced motor deficits exhibited very low alpha source activities in widespread cortical regions; (3) the PD patients with the strongest cognitive deficits showed higher alpha source activities in widespread cortical regions; and (4) compared to the PD patients without visual hallucinations, those with visual hallucinations were characterized by higher posterior alpha sources activities. These results suggest that in PD patients resting in quiet wakefulness, abnormalities in cortical neural synchronization at alpha frequencies are differently related to cognitive, motor, and visual hallucinations. Interestingly, parallel PD neuropathological processes may have opposite effects on cortical neural synchronization mechanisms generating cortical alpha rhythms in quiet wakefulness.