Directed information flow between brain regions might be disrupted in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and relate to the clinical syndrome of DLB. To investigate this hypothesis, resting-state electroencephalography recordings were obtained in patients with probable DLB and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and controls (N = 66 per group, matched for age and gender). Phase transfer entropy was used to measure directed connectivity in the groups for the theta, alpha, and beta frequency band. A posterior-to-anterior phase transfer entropy gradient, with occipital channels driving the frontal channels, was found in controls in all frequency bands. This posterior-to-anterior gradient was largely lost in DLB in the alpha band (p < 0.05). In the beta band, posterior brain regions were less driving in information flow in AD than in DLB and controls. In conclusion, the common posterior-to-anterior pattern of directed connectivity in controls is disturbed in DLB patients in the alpha band, and in AD patients in the beta band. Disrupted alpha band-directed connectivity may underlie the clinical syndrome of DLB and differentiate between DLB and AD.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Dementia with Lewy bodies; Directed connectivity; Electroencephalography; Phase transfer entropy.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.