The functional connectivity of the caudate nucleus is correlated with cognitive performance in Parkinson’s Disease patients
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Date
2018
Authors
Alhindi, Abrar
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Abstract
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the underlying mechanism is not clear. We recruited 15 PD patients; 7 PDNC (normal cognition PD), 8 PDLC (low cognition PD) and 10 age-matched controls. Subjects were scanned with functional and perfusion MRI. We found a correlation between the functional connectivity of the right caudate and MoCA scores in PD but not in controls. Interestingly, PDNC’s functional connectivity was higher than both PDLC and controls, while PDLC and normal subjects were not significantly different from each other. Then we estimated how much each individual expressed an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) like perfusion pattern. This pattern did not correlate with MoCA in PD, but it negatively correlated with the right caudate functional connectivity. Our results suggest that the increased caudate connectivity in PD is compensation for cognitive impairment and that it may be related to comorbid AD-like pathology.
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Keywords
Parkinson's Disease, Functional MRI, Caudate nucleus, Mild cognitive impairment, The dual syndrome hypothesis