Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct 29;12(1):415-424.
doi: 10.1515/tnsci-2020-0192. eCollection 2021 Jan 1.

Altered cerebellum functional network on newly diagnosed drug-naïve Parkinson's disease patients with anxiety

Yirong Wang  1   2 , Shushan Zhang  2 , Haodi Yang  2 , Xin Zhang  2 , Shijia He  2 , Jian Wang  1 , Jian Li  3
Affiliations

Altered cerebellum functional network on newly diagnosed drug-naïve Parkinson's disease patients with anxiety

Yirong Wang et al. Transl Neurosci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Damage to the cerebellar functional network may underlie anxiety symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Herein we investigated the regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity (FC) patterns of cerebellar and clinical correlates in PD patients with anxiety and explored their clinical significance.

Methods: We enrolled 50 newly diagnosed drug-naïve PD patients and 30 normal controls (NCs). Twenty-six PD patients with anxiety symptoms (PD-A) and 24 PD patients without anxiety symptoms (PD-NA) were sorted into groups based on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA). All included participants underwent rest-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning. Cerebellar FC based on the seed-based method was used to investigate regional and whole brain function in PD-A, PD-NA, and NCs, and the relationship between the abnormal brain function and anxiety symptoms in PD patients was also detected.

Results: Compared with the PD-NA group and the NCs, the ReHo value of the PD-A group was significantly decreased in the left medial frontal gyrus and increased in the left cerebellum. Further, left-cerebellum-based FC patterns were used to detect the decreased FC in the right cerebellum, while FC was increased in the right caudate nucleus, and the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the PD-A group was compared with that in the PD-NA group. Further, the altered FC between the left cerebellum and the right cerebellum was significantly associated with anxiety symptoms in the PD-A group.

Conclusion: The present study found abnormal regional cerebellum function as well as disruptions in the connectivity network within the cerebellum, caudate, and ACC in patients with PD-A. In addition, the FC between the left cerebellum and the right cerebellum was associated with anxiety symptoms in patients with PD. The present study indicated that cerebellar functional damage may be associated with anxiety symptoms in PD patients.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; anxiety; cerebellum; functional connectivity; regional homogeneity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ReHo changes based on one-way ANOVA (a) and the post hoc t comparison-independent samples (b and c). (a) (Column demonstrates regions with significantly different ReHo values showing left cerebellum (a) and the left medial frontal gyrus (b) among the PD-A, PD-NA, and NC groups). The images shown here from left to right are sagittal, coronal, and axial views, respectively. (b) Column demonstrates ReHo value comparison of left cerebellum between post hoc t comparison of each pair among the three groups. (c) Column demonstrates ReHo value comparison of left middle frontal gyrus between post hoc t comparison of each pair among the three groups. Red represented increased ReHo. L indicates the left side. The color bar shows F value of one-way ANOVA analysis. Statistical significance was set at voxel level P < 0.001 and cluster level P < 0.05 based on GRF correction. * P < 0.05 and ** P < 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FC changes based on one-way ANOVA (a) and the post hoc t comparison-independent samples (b). (a) (Column demonstrates regions with significantly different FC with the left cerebellum showing right cerebellum (a), right caudate nucleus (b), and right ACC (c) among the PD-A, PD-NA, and NC groups). The image from left to right shows sagittal, coronal, and axial views, respectively. (b) Column demonstrates FC value comparison between post hoc t comparison of each pair among the three groups. Warm represented increase. L indicates the left side. The color bar shows F value of one-way ANOVA analysis. Statistical significance was set at voxel level P < 0.001 and cluster level P < 0.05 based on GRF correction. * P < 0.05 and ** P < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Partial correlation analysis in the PD-A between imaging data and HAMA scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sauerbier A, Jenner P, Todorova A, Chaudhuri KR. Non motor subtypes and Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disor. 2016;22(Suppl 1):S41–6. - PubMed
    2. Sauerbier A, Jenner P, Todorova A, Chaudhuri KR. Non motor subtypes and Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disor. 2016;22(Suppl 1):S41–6. - PubMed
    1. Broen MP, Narayen NE, Kuijf ML, Dissanayaka NN, Leentjens AF. Prevalence of anxiety in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mov Disord. 2016;31(8):1125–33. - PubMed
    2. Broen MP, Narayen NE, Kuijf ML, Dissanayaka NN, Leentjens AF. Prevalence of anxiety in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mov Disord. 2016;31(8):1125–33. - PubMed
    1. Dissanayaka NN, Sellbach A, Matheson S, O'Sullivan JD, Silburn PA, Byrne GJ, et al. Anxiety disorders in Parkinson’s disease: prevalence and risk factors. Mov Disord. 2010;25(7):838–45. - PubMed
    2. Dissanayaka NN, Sellbach A, Matheson S, O'Sullivan JD, Silburn PA, Byrne GJ. et al. Anxiety disorders in Parkinson’s disease: prevalence and risk factors. Mov Disord. 2010;25(7):838–45. - PubMed
    1. Moonen A, Weiss PH, Wiesing M, Weidner R, Fink GR, Reijnders J, et al. An fMRI study into emotional processing in Parkinson’s disease: does increased medial prefrontal activation compensate for striatal dysfunction? PLoS One. 2017;12(5):e0177085. - PMC - PubMed
    2. Moonen A, Weiss PH, Wiesing M, Weidner R, Fink GR, Reijnders J. et al. An fMRI study into emotional processing in Parkinson’s disease: does increased medial prefrontal activation compensate for striatal dysfunction? PLoS One. 2017;12(5):e0177085. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blonder LX, Slevin JT. Emotional dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. Behav Neurol. 2011;24(3):201–17. - PMC - PubMed
    2. Blonder LX, Slevin JT. Emotional dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. Behav Neurol. 2011;24(3):201–17. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources