Exploring brain asymmetry in early‐stage Parkinson's disease through functional and structural MRI

作者：Yujing Liu, Jiaying Yuan, Changlian Tan, Min Wang, Fan Zhou, Chendie Song, Yuqing Tang, Xv Li, Qinru Liu, Qin Shen, Huang Cong-li, Jun Liu, Sainan Cai, Haiyan Liao · 发表于：CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/cns.14874 · 被引用次数：18 · 研究领域：Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments、Functional Brain Connectivity Studies、Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the correlation between asymmetrical brain functional activity, gray matter asymmetry, and the severity of early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Ninety-three early-stage PD patients (ePD, H-Y stages 1-2.5) were recruited, divided into 47 mild (ePD-mild, H-Y stages 1-1.5) and 46 moderate (ePD-moderate, H-Y stages 2-2.5) cases, alongside 43 matched healthy controls (HCs). The study employed the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) staging system for disease severity assessment and utilized voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) for analyzing brain functional activity asymmetry. Asymmetry voxel-based morphometry analysis (VBM) was applied to evaluate gray matter asymmetry. RESULTS: The study found that, relative to HCs, both PD subgroups demonstrated reduced VMHC values in regions including the amygdala, putamen, inferior and middle temporal gyrus, and cerebellum Crus I. The ePD-moderate group also showed decreased VMHC in additional regions such as the postcentral gyrus, lingual gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus, with notably lower VMHC in the superior frontal gyrus compared to the ePD-mild group. A negative correlation was observed between the mean VMHC values in the superior frontal gyrus and H-Y stages, UPDRS, and UPDRS-III scores. No significant asymmetry in gray matter was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Asymmetrical brain functional activity is a significant characteristic of PD, which exacerbates as the disease severity increases, resembling the diss...