NREM Sleep EEG Characteristics Correlate to the Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Parkinsonism

Early identification and diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in patients with parkinsonism (PDS) are critical. The aim of this study was to identify biomarkers of MCI in PDS using conventional electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectral analysis and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). In this retrospective study, patients with PDS who underwent an overnight polysomnography (PSG) study in our hospital from 2019 to 2020 were enrolled. Patients with PDS assessed by clinical examination and questionnaires were divided into two groups: the PDS with normal cognitive function (PDS-NC) group and the PDS with MCI (PDS-MCI) group. Sleep EEG signals were extracted and purified from the PSG and subjected to a conventional power spectral analysis, as well as detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) during wakefulness, nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Forty patients with PDS were enrolled, including 25 with PDS-NC and 15 with PDS-MCI. Results revealed that compared with PDS-NC patients, patients with PDS-MCI had a reduced fast ratio ((alpha + beta)/(delta + theta)) and increased DFA during NREM sleep. DFA during NREM was diagnostic of PDS-MCI, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.753 (95% CI: 0.592-0.914) (p < 0.05). Mild cognitive dysfunction was positively correlated with NREM-DFA (r = 0.426, p = 0.007) and negatively correlated with an NREM-fast ratio (r = -0.524, p = 0.001). This suggested that altered EEG activity during NREM sleep is associated with MCI in patients with PDS. NREM sleep EEG characteristics of the power spectral analysis and DFA correlate to MCI. Slowing of EEG activity during NREM sleep may reflect contribution to the decline in NREM physiological function and is therefore a marker in patients with PDS-MCI.