Structural brain changes in Parkinson disease with dementia: a voxel-based morphometry study.
BACKGROUND
Parkinson disease with dementia (PDD) results from neuropathological changes in cortical and subcortical brain regions. Voxel-based morphometric analysis of magnetic resonance images can contribute to in vivo identification of the cerebral regions predominantly involved in PDD.


OBJECTIVE
To identify structural cerebral regions most closely related to the presence of PDD.


METHODS
Magnetic resonance images were obtained from 16 patients who had PDD, 13 patients with PD without dementia, and 13 age-matched healthy control subjects. Gray matter volumes were compared using optimized voxel-based morphometric analyses.


RESULTS
Compared with healthy controls, patients with PDD showed gray matter volume decreases in several of the following regions: bilateral putamen, accumbens nuclei, left side of the thalamus, bilateral hippocampus, parahippocampal region, and anterior cingulate gyrus. Patients with PD also showed gray matter reductions compared with healthy controls in the right side of the hippocampus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and left superior temporal gyrus.


CONCLUSIONS
The hippocampus, thalamus, and anterior cingulate are the regions most affected in PDD. Our results agree with recent neuropathological findings suggesting the involvement of the limbic and cortical areas in PD.
Summerfield
Christopher
C
Department de Psiquiatria i Psicobiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
Junqué
Carme
C
Tolosa
Eduardo
E
Salgado-Pineda
Pilar
P
Gómez-Ansón
Beatriz
B
Martí
Maria José
MJ
Pastor
Pau
P
Ramírez-Ruíz
Blanca
B
Mercader
José
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*