EEG Spectro-Spatial Covariance Patterns Related to Phenoconversion in Isolated REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and Their Longitudinal Trajectories in α-Synucleinopathies.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify electroencephalographic (EEG) spectro-spatial covariance patterns associated with phenoconversion in isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) patients and explore their longitudinal trajectories within α-synucleinopathies.

METHODS: We assessed 47 participants, including 35 iRBD patients and 12 healthy controls (HC), through baseline eye-closed resting EEGs. iRBD patients underwent follow-up EEG assessments and 18 iRBD patients converted (12 to Parkinson's disease (PD), 6 to dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)) during follow-up. We derived EEG spectro-spatial covariance patterns for PD-RBD and DLB-RBD from converters and HC. Correlations with motor and cognitive function, baseline distinctions among iRBD converters and nonconverters, and longitudinal trajectories were examined.

RESULTS: At baseline, converters exhibited higher PD-RBD and DLB-RBD beta2 pattern scores compared to nonconverters (each area under curve (AUC) = 0.7751). The delta and alpha spatial patterns effectively distinguished both PD and DLB converters from HC, with the alpha pattern showing high discriminative power (AUC = 0.9097 for PD-RBD, 0.9306 for DLB-RBD). Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III scores correlated positively with PD-RBD and DLB-RBD delta patterns (Spearman's rho = 0.688, p = 0.00014; rho = 0.539, p = 0.0055, respectively), with age and sex as cofactors. Distinct trajectories emerged during follow-up among PD converters, DLB converters, and iRBD nonconverters.

CONCLUSIONS: Unique EEG spectro-spatial patterns specific to PD-RBD and DLB-RBD offer potential as predictive markers for phenoconversion to α-synucleinopathies in iRBD.