Department of Neurology, "Santa Chiara Hospital", Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari (APSS), Trento, 38122, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, 20126, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 18;14(1):28482. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79303-4.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) exhibits heterogeneous cognitive deficits that may represent different cognitive phenotypes. While previous studies have described them in a "macro" manner, only one study has applied Network Analysis (NA) in PD. NA represents a model to explore relationships between cognitive abilities, aiding in understanding cognitive phenotypes. This study aims to verify whether the cognitive system undergoes reorganization in PD with Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI) patients. To explore this, a Level II cognitive assessment was administered to 275 PD patients, who were classified into two diagnostic categories: PD-Cognitive Unimpaired (CU) (n = 171) and PD-MCI (n = 104). NA was applied to construct Gaussian Graphical Models for each diagnostic group, where nodes represent cognitive tests and demographic factors, and edges represent their interconnections. The NA revealed substantial differences between the cognitive networks of PD-CU and PD-MCI patients. Specifically, the network of PD-MCI patients appears less sparse, with some weakened relationships between nodes. Overall, the results support the presence of a cognitive reorganization in PD-MCI patients, potentially indicating a functional compensation mechanism. In conclusion, this study enhances the understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying cognitive decline in patients with PD.
帕金森病（PD）表现出异质的认知缺陷，可能代表不同的认知表型。虽然之前的研究已经以“宏观”的方式描述了这些表型，但只有一项研究在 PD 中应用了网络分析（NA）。NA 代表了一种探索认知能力之间关系的模型，有助于理解认知表型。本研究旨在验证轻度认知障碍（PD-MCI）患者的 PD 是否存在认知系统的重组。为了探索这一点，对 275 名 PD 患者进行了二级认知评估，他们被分为两个诊断类别：PD-认知未受损（CU）（n=171）和 PD-MCI（n=104）。对每个诊断组应用 NA 构建高斯图形模型，其中节点代表认知测试和人口统计学因素，边缘代表它们的相互连接。NA 揭示了 PD-CU 和 PD-MCI 患者认知网络之间的显著差异。具体来说，PD-MCI 患者的网络似乎不那么稀疏，节点之间的一些关系减弱。总的来说，这些结果支持 PD-MCI 患者存在认知重组，这可能表明存在一种功能补偿机制。总之，这项研究增强了对 PD 患者认知能力下降背后的认知机制的理解。
