1 Center for Mathematics , Computing and Cognition, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), São Paulo, Brazil .
2 Department of Radiology, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein , São Paulo, Brazil .
Brain Connect. 2017 Dec;7(10):643-647. doi: 10.1089/brain.2017.0534. Epub 2017 Nov 30.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor skills and cognition. As brain structure and function are compromised, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be a helpful tool to further investigate how intrinsic connectivity is impaired on the disease. The precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are hub regions involved on the default mode network (DMN), a system that is active during rest and related to cognitive processes. We hypothesized that PD patients would present a decrease in functional connectivity among these two regions and the rest of the brain. Our goal was to identify regions in which functional connectivity to precuneus and mPFC was altered in PD. This study was based on resting-state fMRI data from 37 healthy subjects and 55 PD patients. Precuneus and mPFC were selected as seed regions in a whole brain functional connectivity mapping. As expected, we found abnormal connectivity from precuneus to motor system regions in PD patients, pointing toward a decreased connectivity in the disease. No significant group effects were found for the mPFC. Our findings suggest that internetwork connectivity from DMN to motor system is impaired in PD.
帕金森病（PD）是一种影响运动技能和认知的神经退行性疾病。由于大脑结构和功能受损，功能磁共振成像（fMRI）可以作为一种有用的工具，进一步研究内在连接在疾病中的受损情况。楔前叶和内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）是默认模式网络（DMN）中的枢纽区域，DMN 是在休息时活跃的系统，与认知过程有关。我们假设 PD 患者在这两个区域与大脑其他区域之间的功能连接会减少。我们的目标是确定 PD 患者中与楔前叶和 mPFC 的功能连接发生改变的区域。这项研究基于 37 名健康受试者和 55 名 PD 患者的静息态 fMRI 数据。楔前叶和 mPFC 被选为全脑功能连接图中的种子区域。正如预期的那样，我们在 PD 患者中发现了楔前叶与运动系统区域之间的异常连接，表明在疾病中连接减少。mPFC 没有发现显著的组间效应。我们的研究结果表明，PD 中 DMN 到运动系统的网络间连接受损。
