Voxelwise meta-analysis of gray matter anomalies in progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson's disease using anatomic likelihood estimation

Na Shao,Jing Yang,Jianpeng Li,Hui-Fang Shang

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00063

Abstract

Numerous voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies on gray matter (GM) of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and Parkinson's disease (PD) have been conducted separately. Identifying the different neuroanatomical changes in GM resulting from PSP and PD through meta-analysis will aid the differential diagnosis of PSP and PD. In this study, a systematic review of VBM studies of patients with PSP and PD relative to healthy control (HC) in the Embase and PubMed databases from January 1995 to April 2013 was conducted. The anatomical distribution of the coordinates of GM differences was meta-analyzed using anatomical likelihood estimation. Separate maps of GM changes were constructed and subtraction meta-analysis was performed to explore the differences in GM abnormalities between PSP and PD. Nine PSP studies and 24 PD studies were included. GM reductions were present in the bilateral thalamus, basal ganglia, midbrain, insular cortex and inferior frontal gyrus, and left precentral gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus in PSP. Atrophy of GM was concentrated in the bilateral middle and inferior frontal gyrus, precuneus, left precentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, right superior parietal lobule, and right cuneus in PD. Subtraction meta-analysis indicated that GM volume was lesser in the bilateral midbrain, thalamus, and insula in PSP compared with that in PD. Our meta-analysis indicated that PSP and PD shared a similar distribution of neuroanatomical changes in the frontal lobe, including inferior frontal gyrus and precentral gyrus, and that atrophy of the midbrain, thalamus, and insula are neuroanatomical markers for differentiating PSP from PD.

Highlights

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is an atypical Parkinsonism neurodegenerative disease that often affects adults between 60 and 65 years of age (Armstrong, 2007)
This study aimed to identify the consistent finding of gray matter volume (GMV) changes in PSP and Parkinson’s disease (PD) separately using the anatomic likelihood estimate (ALE) approach (Turkeltaub et al, 2002; Laird et al, 2005)
GM reduction was observed in the bilateral thalamus, midbrain, insula, basal ganglia, inferior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, and the left anterior cingulate by using the ALE approach (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is an atypical Parkinsonism neurodegenerative disease that often affects adults between 60 and 65 years of age (Armstrong, 2007). Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by rigidity, tremor, bradykinesia, and posture instability (Tanner and Goldman, 1996). Symptoms such as vertical gaze palsy and early falls are specific to PSP, differential diagnosis from PD can still be difficult at early stages (Nilsson et al, 2007; Varrone et al, 2007). The application of meta-analysis to identify consistent results of VBM studies on PSP and PD has gained increasing interest.

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Conclusion