NPJ Parkinson's Disease · Oct 7, 2025

Subjective cognitive decline in individuals with isolated REM sleep behavior disorder

By Ophey A, Röttgen S, Doppler CEJ et al.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may constitute an early marker of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in individuals with isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). In this cross-sectional study, 80 individuals with iRBD were classified into iRBD with MCI (RBD.MCI), with SCD (RBD.SCD+), and without both (RBD.SCD-) based on neuropsychological testing and the Multi-SubCoDE questionnaire. The prevalence of SCD in iRBD was 36.3%, with predominance of the amnestic multi-domain SCD profile. RBD.SCD+ reported more severe depressive symptoms than RBD.SCD- and showed lower cognitive performance than RBD.SCD- in global cognition and attention & working memory. Magnetic resonance imaging analyses revealed lower grey matter volume in the left superior frontal gyrus for RBD.SCD+ than RBD.SCD-, which was associated with increased SCD-severity and lower global cognition. SCD without MCI in iRBD is associated with subtle cognitive deficits and structural brain changes. The prognostic value of SCD in iRBD should be further determined in longitudinal studies.

doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01161-2 Open access PubMed 41057346 Biomarkers