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. 2024 Jun 15;16(6):2423-2434.
doi: 10.62347/GTVB7800. eCollection 2024.

Altered connectivity between frontal cortex and supplementary motor area in various types of Parkinson's disease

Fengbo Xing  1   2   3 , Jingjing Feng  1   2   3 , Lingling Lv  1   2   3 , Jiaqiu Liu  1   2   3 , Xin Chen  1   2   3 , Jinmei Sun  1   2   3 , Panpan Hu  1   4   2   3   5   6 , Kai Wang  1   4   2   3   5   6
Affiliations

Altered connectivity between frontal cortex and supplementary motor area in various types of Parkinson's disease

Fengbo Xing et al. Am J Transl Res. .

Abstract

Background: Tremor-dominant (TD) and postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) are common subtypes of Parkinson's disease, each with distinct clinical manifestations and prognoses. The neural mechanisms underlying these subtypes remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the altered connectivity of the frontal cortex and supplementary motor area (SMA) in different types of Parkinson's disease.

Methods: Data of 173 participants, including 41 TD patients, 65 PIGD patients, and 67 healthy controls, were retrospectively analyzed. All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and clinical assessments. Differences in amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), voxel-wise functional connectivity (FC), and functional network connectivity (FNC) among the three groups were compared, followed by partial correlation analysis.

Results: Compared to healthy controls, the left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus (DLSFG) ALFF was significantly increased in both PIGD and TD patients. The FC between the left DLSFG and the left SMA, as well as between the left paracentral lobule and the right DLSFG, was significantly decreased. Similarly, the FNC between the visual network and the auditory network was reduced. Compared to TD patients, PIGD patients showed a significantly higher ALFF in the left DLSFG and a notably reduced FC between the left DLSFG and left SMA. Additionally, the FC of the left DLSFG-SMA was inversely correlated with the PIGD score exclusively in PIGD patients. The FNC of the visual-auditory network was inversely associated with the tremor score only in TD patients.

Conclusion: Decreases in the left DLSFG-SMA connectivity may be a key feature of the PIGD subtype, while reduced VN-AUD connectivity may characterize the TD subtype.

Keywords: Postural instability/gait difficulty; amplitudes of low frequency fluctuation; functional connectivity; tremor-dominant.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences in ALFF among the three cohorts. A. The brain region with marked difference in ALFF among the three groups was the left DLSFG. B. The ALFF in the left DLSFG. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. ALFF, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; DLSFG, dorsal-lateral superior frontal gyrus; TD, Parkinson’s Disease-Tremor Dominant; PIGD, Parkinson’s Disease-Postural Instability and Gait Difficulty; HC, healthy control.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Differences in FC (left DLSFG was selected as ROI) among the three cohorts. A. The brain regions with marked difference in FC among the three groups were the left SMA, right DLSFG, left PCL. B. FC between the left DLSFG and left SMA. C, D. FCs between the left DLSFG and the right DLSFG. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
FNCs alterations among the three cohorts. A-C. Compared to HC, FNC between the anterior DMN (IC2) and the VN (IC8, IC12) was decreased, and the FNC between the posterior DMN (IC13) and the VN (IC12) was decreased, and the FNC between the anterior VN (IC11) and the SMN (IC10), the AUD (IC27) were decreased, and the FNC between the VN (IC12) and the sensorimotor network (IC10) was decreased among PIGD sufferers (P < 0.05, FDR corrected). D. Relative to HC, the FNC between the VN and the AUN was decreased among TD patients (P < 0.05, FDR corrected).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlation between FC/FNC and clinical assessments. A. FC between the left DLSFG and left SMA was negatively associated with PIGD scores only among the PIGD group. B. FNC between the VN and the AUD was inversely proportional to the tremor scores only among the TD group.
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