White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings from emerging studies of cortical white-matter integrity in Parkinson’s disease (PD) without dementia are inconclusive. When white-matter changes have been found, their relationship to cognitive functioning in PD has not been carefully investigated. To bette...

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Main Authors: Rebecca J Theilmann, Jason D Reed, David D Song, Mingxiong X Huang, Roland R Lee, Irene eLitvan, Deborah L Harrington
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Neurology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fneur.2013.00037/full
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spelling doaj-121d1709332643fd926126a34a3fdc682020-11-24T22:16:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952013-04-01410.3389/fneur.2013.0003747849White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's diseaseRebecca J Theilmann0Jason D Reed1Jason D Reed2David D Song3David D Song4Mingxiong X Huang5Mingxiong X Huang6Roland R Lee7Roland R Lee8Irene eLitvan9Deborah L Harrington10Deborah L Harrington11University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San DiegoVA San Diego Healthcare SystemUniversity of California, San DiegoVA San Diego Healthcare SystemUniversity of California, San DiegoVA San Diego Healthcare SystemUniversity of California, San DiegoVA San Diego Healthcare SystemUniversity of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San DiegoVA San Diego Healthcare SystemDiffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings from emerging studies of cortical white-matter integrity in Parkinson’s disease (PD) without dementia are inconclusive. When white-matter changes have been found, their relationship to cognitive functioning in PD has not been carefully investigated. To better characterize changes in tissue diffusivity and to understand their functional significance, the present study conducted DTI in 25 PD patients without dementia and 26 controls of similar ages. An automated tract-based DTI method was used. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were analyzed. Neuropsychological measures of executive functioning (working memory, verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) and visuospatial ability were then correlated with regions of interest that showed abnormal diffusivity in the PD group. We found widespread reductions in FA and increases in MD in the PD group relative to controls. These changes were predominantly related to an increase in RD. Increased AD in the PD group was limited to specific frontal tracks of the right hemisphere, possibly signifying more significant tissue changes. Motor-symptom severity did not correlate with FA. However, different measures of executive functioning and visuospatial ability correlated with FA in different segments of tracts, which contain fiber pathways to cortical regions that are thought to support specific cognitive processes. The findings suggest that abnormal tissue diffusivity may be sensitive to subtle cognitive changes in PD, some of which may be prognostic of future cognitive decline.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fneur.2013.00037/fullCerebral CortexCognitionDiffusion Tensor ImagingParkinson Diseasewhite matter
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Rebecca J Theilmann
Jason D Reed
Jason D Reed
David D Song
David D Song
Mingxiong X Huang
Mingxiong X Huang
Roland R Lee
Roland R Lee
Irene eLitvan
Deborah L Harrington
Deborah L Harrington
spellingShingle Rebecca J Theilmann
Jason D Reed
Jason D Reed
David D Song
David D Song
Mingxiong X Huang
Mingxiong X Huang
Roland R Lee
Roland R Lee
Irene eLitvan
Deborah L Harrington
Deborah L Harrington
White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease
Frontiers in Neurology
Cerebral Cortex
Cognition
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Parkinson Disease
white matter
author_facet Rebecca J Theilmann
Jason D Reed
Jason D Reed
David D Song
David D Song
Mingxiong X Huang
Mingxiong X Huang
Roland R Lee
Roland R Lee
Irene eLitvan
Deborah L Harrington
Deborah L Harrington
author_sort Rebecca J Theilmann
title White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease
title_short White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease
title_full White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease
title_fullStr White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease
title_full_unstemmed White-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease
title_sort white-matter changes correlate with cognitive functioning in parkinson's disease
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Neurology
issn 1664-2295
publishDate 2013-04-01
description Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings from emerging studies of cortical white-matter integrity in Parkinson’s disease (PD) without dementia are inconclusive. When white-matter changes have been found, their relationship to cognitive functioning in PD has not been carefully investigated. To better characterize changes in tissue diffusivity and to understand their functional significance, the present study conducted DTI in 25 PD patients without dementia and 26 controls of similar ages. An automated tract-based DTI method was used. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were analyzed. Neuropsychological measures of executive functioning (working memory, verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) and visuospatial ability were then correlated with regions of interest that showed abnormal diffusivity in the PD group. We found widespread reductions in FA and increases in MD in the PD group relative to controls. These changes were predominantly related to an increase in RD. Increased AD in the PD group was limited to specific frontal tracks of the right hemisphere, possibly signifying more significant tissue changes. Motor-symptom severity did not correlate with FA. However, different measures of executive functioning and visuospatial ability correlated with FA in different segments of tracts, which contain fiber pathways to cortical regions that are thought to support specific cognitive processes. The findings suggest that abnormal tissue diffusivity may be sensitive to subtle cognitive changes in PD, some of which may be prognostic of future cognitive decline.
topic Cerebral Cortex
Cognition
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Parkinson Disease
white matter
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fneur.2013.00037/full
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