title: Cortical thickness, surface area and volume measures in Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Parkinson's disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) are neurodegenerative diseases that can be difficult to distinguish clinically. The objective of the current study was to use surface-based analysis techniques to assess cortical thickness, surface area and grey matter volume to identify unique morphological patterns of cortical atrophy in PD, MSA and PSP and to relate these patterns of change to disease duration and clinical features.
  
  
  METHODS
  High resolution 3D T1-weighted MRI volumes were acquired from 14 PD patients, 18 MSA, 14 PSP and 19 healthy control participants. Cortical thickness, surface area and volume analyses were carried out using the automated surface-based analysis package FreeSurfer (version 5.1.0). Measures of disease severity and duration were assessed for correlation with cortical morphometric changes in each clinical group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results show that in PSP, widespread cortical thinning and volume loss occurs within the frontal lobe, particularly the superior frontal gyrus. In addition, PSP patients also displayed increased surface area in the pericalcarine. In comparison, PD and MSA did not display significant changes in cortical morphology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate that patients with clinically established PSP exhibit distinct patterns of cortical atrophy, particularly affecting the frontal lobe. These results could be used in the future to develop a useful clinical application of MRI to distinguish PSP patients from PD and MSA patients.
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Worker
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blain
authors.affiliation: King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jarosz
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: K Ray
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Chaudhuri
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gareth J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Steven C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Trafford Centre for Biomedical Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: P Nigel
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Leigh
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simmons
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019578:Multiple System Atrophy / Q000473:pathology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000473:pathology*