Journal Article

Cortico-basal white matter alterations occurring in Parkinson’s disease

Temel, Yasin, Tittgemeyer, Marc, Pelzer, Esther, Forstmann, Birte. U., Keuken, Max. C., Isaacs, Bethany. R., Trutti, Anne. C.

2019

Overview

Magnetic resonance imaging studies typically use standard anatomical atlases for identification and analyses of (patho-)physiological effects on specific brain areas; these atlases often fail to incorporate neuroanatomical alterations that may occur with both age and disease. The present study utilizes Parkinson's disease and age-specific anatomical atlases of the subthalamic nucleus for diffusion tractography, assessing tracts that run between the subthalamic nucleus and a-priori defined cortical areas known to be affected by Parkinson's disease. The results show that the strength of white matter fiber tracts appear to remain structurally unaffected by disease. Contrary to that, Fractional Anisotropy values were shown to decrease in Parkinson's disease patients for connections between the subthalamic nucleus and the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the pre-supplementary motor, collectively involved in preparatory motor control, decision making and task monitoring. While the biological underpinnings of fractional anisotropy alterations remain elusive, they may nonetheless be used as an index of Parkinson's disease. Moreover, we find that failing to account for structural changes occurring in the subthalamic nucleus with age and disease reduce the accuracy and influence the results of tractography, highlighting the importance of using appropriate atlases for tractography.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Age / Aged / Anatomy / Anisotropy / Anterior cingulate cortex / Atlases as Topic / Basal Ganglia - diagnostic imaging / Basal Ganglia - pathology / Bayes Theorem / Biology and Life Sciences / Biomonitoring / Brain / Brain architecture / Brain research / Case-Control Studies / Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging / Cerebral Cortex - pathology / Cerebral white matter / Cortex (cingulate) / Cortex (frontal) / Cortex (motor) / Decision making / Development and progression / Diagnostic imaging / Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Female / Frontal gyrus / Frontal lobes / Gender differences / Health aspects / Humans / Internet / Magnetic resonance / Magnetic resonance imaging / Male / Medical examination / Medical research / Medicine and Health Sciences / Mental task performance / Metabolism / Methods / Middle Aged / Models, Anatomic / Models, Statistical / Motor task performance / Movement disorders / Neural Pathways - diagnostic imaging / Neural Pathways - pathology / Neurodegenerative diseases / Neuroimaging / Neurology / Neurophysiology / Neurosciences / Neurosurgery / NMR / Nuclear magnetic resonance / Older people / Parkinson disease / Parkinson Disease - diagnostic imaging / Parkinson Disease - pathology / Parkinson's disease / Physical Sciences / Physiological aspects / Physiological effects / Prefrontal cortex / Research and Analysis Methods / Structure / Substantia alba / Subthalamic nucleus / Subthalamic Nucleus - diagnostic imaging / Subthalamic Nucleus - pathology / Systematic review / Trends / White Matter - diagnostic imaging / White Matter - pathology