Abstract
Cerebral specialization and inter-hemispheric cooperation are two of the most prominent functional architectures of the human brain. Their dysfunctions may be related to pathophysiological changes in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), who are characterized by unbalanced onset and progression of motor symptoms. This study aimed to characterize the two intrinsic architectures of hemispheric functions in PD using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seventy idiopathic PD patients and 70 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy subjects were recruited. All participants underwent magnetic resonance image scanning and clinical evaluations. The cerebral specialization (Autonomy index, AI) and inter-hemispheric cooperation (Connectivity between Functionally Homotopic voxels, CFH) were calculated and compared between groups. Compared with healthy controls, PD patients showed stronger AI in the left angular gyrus. Specifically, this difference in specialization resulted from increased functional connectivity (FC) of the ipsilateral areas (e.g., the left prefrontal area), and decreased FC in the contralateral area (e.g., the right supramarginal gyrus). Imaging-cognitive correlation analysis indicated that these connectivity were positively related to the score of Montreal Cognitive Assessment in PD patients. CFH between the bilateral sensorimotor regions was significantly decreased in PD patients compared with controls. No significant correlation between CFH and cognitive scores was found in PD patients. This study illustrated a strong leftward specialization but weak inter-hemispheric coordination in PD patients. It provided new insights to further clarify the pathological mechanism of PD.
Highlights
Cerebral specialization and inter-hemispheric cooperation are two of the most prominent functional architectures of the human brain
It provided new insights to further clarify the pathological mechanism of Parkinson’s disease (PD)
In the process of listening to a story, predictive inferences initially activated in the right hemisphere (RH) and following coherence inferences are completed in the left hemisphere (LH)
Summary
Cerebral specialization and inter-hemispheric cooperation are two of the most prominent functional architectures of the human brain, which can prevent the occurrence of conflicting signals and allows more efficient information processing (Chi et al, 1977; Gazzaniga, 2000; Moorman and Nicol, 2015; Stark et al, 2008; Toga and Thompson, 2003). In the process of listening to a story, predictive inferences initially activated in the right hemisphere (RH) and following coherence inferences are completed in the left hemisphere (LH). This indicates that bilateral hemispheres process semantic information differently, but must share some information (Beeman et al, 2000). A similar mechanism in the motor system is important for supporting bilateral motor function, and its disruption may involve the pathological mechanism of movement disorders (Beaulé et al, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
