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Quantitative High Density EEG Brain Connectivity Evaluation in Parkinson's Disease: The Phase Locking Value (PLV)
Lazzaro di Biase1,2,3, Lorenzo Ricci1,2, Maria Letizia Caminiti1,2
1Unit of Neurology, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Psichiatry, Department of Medicine and Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
Journal of Clinical Medicine
|February 25, 2023
Summary
Healthy controls exhibit higher delta band connectivity during motor tasks compared to Parkinson's disease patients. This finding suggests potential for EEG-based biomarkers in Parkinson's disease screening.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Quantitative Electroencephalography (qEEG)
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor control.
- Brain connectivity alterations are implicated in PD pathophysiology.
- Quantitative EEG analysis offers a non-invasive method to study brain function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in brain connectivity between PD patients and healthy controls (HC) using qEEG.
- To evaluate the diagnostic performance of functional connectivity measures, specifically phase locking value (PLV), in differentiating PD from HC.
- To assess connectivity at rest and during a motor task across different frequency bands.
Main Methods:
- High-density 64-channel EEG data were acquired from 26 PD patients and 13 HC.
- Phase locking value (PLV) was calculated to quantify functional connectivity in delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands.
- EEG data were analyzed at rest and during a motor task.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in PLV were observed between PD and HC at rest.
- HC demonstrated significantly higher PLV in the delta band during a motor task compared to PD patients.
- Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis yielded an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.75 for PD vs. HC discrimination, with 100% sensitivity and 100% negative predictive value.
Conclusions:
- Healthy controls exhibit distinct brain connectivity patterns in the delta band during motor tasks compared to Parkinson's disease patients.
- The identified difference in delta band PLV during motor tasks shows promise as a potential neurophysiological biomarker for PD.
- Further research is warranted to explore the utility of this biomarker for PD screening.
