Dataset Information

The structural changes of gray matter in Parkinson disease patients with mild cognitive impairments.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Parkinson disease (PD) is associated with cognitive impairments. However, the underlying neural mechanism of cognitive impairments in PD is still not clear. This study aimed to investigate the anatomic alternations of gray matter in PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and their associations with neurocognitive measurements.

Methods

T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were acquired from 23 PD patients with MCI, 23 PD patients without MCI, and 23 matched healthy controls. The MRI data were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and surfaced-based morphometry (SBM) methods to assess the structural changes in gray matter volume and cortical thickness respectively. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to examine the diagnostic accuracies of the indexes of interest. The correlations between the structural metrics and neurocognitive assessments (e.g., Montreal cognitive assessment, MOCA; Mini-mental state examination, MMSE) were further examined.

Results

PD patients with MCI showed reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in the frontal cortex (e.g., right inferior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus) and extended to insula as well as cerebellum compared with the healthy controls and PD patients without MIC. Thinner of cortical thickens in the temporal lobe (e.g., left middle temporal gyrus and right superior temporal gyrus) extending to parietal cortex (e.g., precuneus) were found in the PD patients with MCI relative to the healthy controls and PD patients without MCI.ROC analysis indicated that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values in the frontal, temporal, and subcortical structures (e.g., insula and cerebellum) could differentiate the PD patients with MCI and without MCI and healthy controls. Furthermore, GMV of the right middle frontal gyrus and cortical thickness of the right superior temporal gyrus were correlated with neurocognitive dysfunctions (e.g., MOCA and MMSE) in PD patients with MCI.

Conclusion

This study provided further evidence that PD with MCI was associated with structural alternations of brain. Morphometric analysis focusing on the cortical and subcortical regions could be biomarkers of cognitive impairments in PD patients.

SUBMITTER: Li L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9299333 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background and purposeThe pathology of Parkinson disease leads to morphological brain volume changes. So far, the progressive gray matter volume change across time specific to patients with Parkinson disease compared controls remains unclear. Our aim was to investigate the pattern of gray matter changes in patients with Parkinson disease and to explore the progressive gray matter volume change specific to patients with Parkinson disease with disease progression by using voxel-based morphometry analysis.Materials and methodsLongitudinal cognitive assessment and structural MR imaging of 89 patients with Parkinson disease (62 men) and 55 healthy controls (33 men) were from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative data base, including the initial baseline and 12-month follow-up data. Two-way analysis of covariance was performed with covariates of age, sex, years of education, imaging data from multiple centers, and total intracranial volume by using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra tool from SPM8 software.ResultsGray matter volume changes for patients with Parkinson disease were detected with decreased gray matter volume in the frontotemporoparietal areas and the bilateral caudate, with increased gray matter volume in the bilateral limbic/paralimbic areas, medial globus pallidus/putamen, and the right occipital cortex compared with healthy controls. Progressive gray matter volume decrease in the bilateral caudate was found for both patients with Parkinson disease and healthy controls, and this caudate volume was positively associated with cognitive ability for both groups. The progressive gray matter volume increase specific to the patients with Parkinson disease was identified close to the left ventral lateral nucleus of thalamus, and a positive relationship was found between the thalamic volume and the tremor scores in a subgroup with tremor-dominant patients with Parkinson disease.ConclusionsThe observed progressive changes in gray matter volume in Parkinson disease may provide new insights into the neurodegenerative process. The current findings suggest that the caudate volume loss may contribute to cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson disease and the progressive thalamus enlargement may have relevance to tremor severity in Parkinson disease.