Neural Basis of Anxiety in Dementia With Lewy Bodies

The association between core clinical features and anxiety and the neural basis of anxiety in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are unknown. Therefore, this study examined the core clinical features associated with anxiety in DLB and identified the brain regions associated with anxiety using statistical imaging analysis.

This study was conducted using a part of the data from "The Japan multicenter study: Behavioral and psychological symptoms Integrated Research in Dementia-Retrospective Neuroimaging part". Overall, 40 patients with probable DLB whose clinical dementia rating score was either 0.5 or 1 were included in this study. Anxiety was evaluated using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). The incidence of each of the 4 core features was compared between patients with and without anxiety, and the brain regions associated with anxiety were examined using single-photon emission computed tomography data.

Patients with DLB with anxiety had a significantly higher percentage of fluctuating cognition than those without anxiety. The NPI anxiety score was significantly negatively correlated with regional cerebral blood flow in the right supramarginal gyrus in patients with DLB.

Anxiety in DLB is associated with fluctuating cognition. It is also likely that the brain regions associated with anxiety in DLB are potentially influenced by the neurofunctional characteristics of DLB, in which the parietal lobes are more likely to be impaired.