Impaired visuospatial attention revealed by theta- and beta-band cortical activities in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder patients

Seongjin Her; Kwang Su Cha; Jeong Woo Choi; Hyun Kim; Jung-Ick Byun; Jun-Sang Sunwoo; Tae-Joon Kim; Jung-Ah Lim; Ki-Young Jung; Kyung Hwan Kim

doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2019.07.030

Impaired visuospatial attention revealed by theta- and beta-band cortical activities in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder patients

Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 Oct;130(10):1962-1970. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.07.030. Epub 2019 Aug 16.

Authors

Seongjin Her¹, Kwang Su Cha², Jeong Woo Choi³, Hyun Kim¹, Jung-Ick Byun⁴, Jun-Sang Sunwoo⁵, Tae-Joon Kim⁶, Jung-Ah Lim⁷, Ki-Young Jung⁸, Kyung Hwan Kim⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, South Korea.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, South Korea; Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Neuroscience Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, South Korea; Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, South Korea.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Chamjoeun Hospital, Gwangju, South Korea.
⁸ Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Neuroscience Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: jungky@snu.ac.kr.
⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, South Korea. Electronic address: khkim0604@yonsei.ac.kr.

PMID: 31476702
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.07.030

Abstract

Objectives: Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) patients are susceptible to cognitive deficits, especially attention dysfunction. The objective of this study is to elucidate the neural mechanism of the dysfunction in attention known as 'inhibition of return' (IOR) in iRBD patients based on an analysis of oscillatory cortical activity during a selective attention task.

Methods: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from iRBD patients and normal control subjects while performing a Posner task. The differences in N1 ERP and theta- and beta-bands event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) between valid and invalid stimuli were compared between groups.

Results: The N1 amplitude was significantly higher for the invalid stimuli in controls, while the valid-invalid difference was not significant in iRBD patients. The valid-invalid differences in ERSPs were prominent in controls at ∼100-400 ms for the theta-band and ∼200-400 ms for the beta-band, and the valid-invalid differences in ERSPs were not significant in the iRBD patients.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that valid-invalid differences in neural activity were absent in iRBD patients, and these neural findings were in accord with the behavioral results.

Significance: Our findings imply impairment in sensory-perceptual processing mediated by attentional control and response inhibition in early-stage iRBD before clinical neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Cognitive dysfunction; Event-related potentials; Event-related spectral perturbation; Posner cueing task; REM sleep behavior disorder.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Attention / physiology*
Beta Rhythm / physiology*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Photic Stimulation / methods
Polysomnography / methods*
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / diagnosis
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / physiopathology*
Spatial Processing / physiology*
Theta Rhythm / physiology*