title: Voxelwise meta-analysis of gray matter abnormalities in dementia with Lewy bodies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increasing neuroimaging studies have revealed brain gray matter (GM) atrophy by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) relative to healthy controls. However, the spatial localization of GM abnormalities reported in the existing studies is heterogeneous. Here, we aimed to investigate concurrence across VBM studies to help clarify the structural abnormalities underpinning this condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic search for VBM studies of DLB patients and healthy controls published in PubMed database from January 2000 to March 2014 was conducted. A quantitative meta-analysis of whole-brain VBM studies in DLB patients and healthy controls was performed by means of Anisotropic Effect Size version of Signed Differential Mapping (AES-SDM) software package.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven studies comprising 218 DLB patients and 219 healthy controls were included in the present study. Compared to healthy subjects, the patients group showed consistent decreased GM in right lateral temporal/insular cortex and left lenticular nucleus/insular cortex. The results remained largely unchanged in the following jackknife sensitivity analyses. Meta-regression analysis indicated an increased probability of finding brain atrophy in left superior temporal gyrus in patients with lower MMSE scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present meta-analysis quantitatively demonstrates a characteristic pattern of GM alternations that contributed to the understanding of pathophysiology underlying DLB. Future studies will benefit from employing meta-analytical comparisons to other dementia subtypes with solid evidence to extend these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Affiliated Yancheng Hospital of Southeast University, Yancheng, PR China.
authors.forename: JianGuo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Affiliated Yancheng Hospital of Southeast University, Yancheng, PR China.
authors.forename: PingLei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Affiliated Yancheng Hospital of Southeast University, Yancheng, PR China.
authors.forename: ZhenYu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Affiliated Yancheng Hospital of Southeast University, Yancheng, PR China. Electronic address: yc3yhcshi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: HaiCun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Dementia with Lewy bodies; Gray matter; Meta-analysis; Signed differential mapping; Voxel-based morphometry