Abnormalities of regional brain function in Parkinson\u2019s disease: a meta-analysis of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies

Pinglei Pan,He Zhang,Yun Xu,Yang Zhang,Dening Guan,Yi Liu

doi:10.1038/srep40469

Abstract

There is convincing evidence that abnormalities of regional brain function exist in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, many resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) studies using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) have reported inconsistent results about regional spontaneous neuronal activity in PD. Therefore, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis using the Seed-based d Mapping and several complementary analyses. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for eligible whole-brain rs-fMRI studies that measured ALFF differences between patients with PD and healthy controls published from January 1st, 2000 until June 24, 2016. Eleven studies reporting 14 comparisons, comparing 421 patients and 381 healthy controls, were included. The most consistent and replicable findings in patients with PD compared with healthy controls were identified, including the decreased ALFFs in the bilateral supplementary motor areas, left putamen, left premotor cortex, and left inferior parietal gyrus, and increased ALFFs in the right inferior parietal gyrus. The altered ALFFs in these brain regions are related to motor deficits and compensation in PD, which contribute to understanding its neurobiological underpinnings and could serve as specific regions of interest for further studies.

Highlights

During the last decade, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging has become an established approach for exploring functional neuroanatomy in vivo and numerous studies have sought to unravel the key abnormalities of brain function involved in the pathophysiology of PD7
These comprehensive analyses showed that decreased Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the bilateral supplementary motor areas (SMAs), left putamen, left lateral premotor cortex, and left inferior parietal gyrus and increased ALFFs in the right inferior parietal gyrus were the most consistent and reliable findings in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) compared to healthy controls
Further meta-regression analyses indicated an effect of motor severity on ALFF changes in the bilateral SMAs and right inferior parietal gyrus, and illness severity on ALFF changes in the right inferior parietal gyrus

Summary

Introduction

During the last decade, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has become an established approach for exploring functional neuroanatomy in vivo and numerous studies have sought to unravel the key abnormalities of brain function involved in the pathophysiology of PD7. Aberrant ALFF patterns in PD have been shown to be related to motor subtypes[15], motor severity[16,17], disease progression[17,18], apathy[16], depression[16,19,20,21], and visual hallucinations[22]. These studies indicate that PD pathophysiology is involved in widespread abnormalities of regional spontaneous neuronal activity beyond those within the motor network. SDM has already been applied to identify reliable brain anatomical or functional alterations in many neuropsychiatric disorders including Alzheimer’s disease[34,35], PD36, multiple sclerosis[37,38], amyotrophic lateral sclerosis[29,39], depression[30,40], and others[28,33]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion