title: Structural covariance networks of striatum subdivision in patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the striatum. Previous studies indicated that subdivisions of the striatum with distinct functional connectivity profiles contribute to different pathogeneses in PD. Segregated structural covariance (SC) pattern between the striatum and neocortex observed in healthy subjects, however, remain unknown in PD. The purpose of this study is to map and compare the subregional striatal SC network organization between 30 healthy controls and 48 PD patients and to investigate their association with the disease severity. The striatal SC network was statistically inferred by correlating the mean gray matter (GM) volume of six striatal subdivisions (including the bilateral dorsal caudate, superior ventral striatum, inferior ventral striatum, dorsal caudal putamen, dorsal rostral putamen, and ventral rostral putamen) with the entire neocortical GM volume in voxel-wise manner. The PD patients revealed marked atrophy in the striatum, cerebellum, and extra-striatum neocortices. As predicted, segregated striatal SC network patterns were observed in both groups. This suggests that in PD, pathological processes occurring in the striatum affect the same striato-cortical networks that covary with the striatum in healthy brains. The PD patients further demonstrated atypical striatal SC patterns between the caudate, parahippocampus temporal cortices, and cerebellum, which corresponded to dopaminergic associated network. The areas with significant group differences in SC were further associated with disease severity. Our findings support previous studies indicating that PD is associated with altered striato-cortical networks, and suggest that structural changes in the striatum may result in a cascade of alterations in multiple neocortices.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kun-Hsien
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Wei-Che
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Pei-Lin
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Nai-Wen
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Yung-Cheng
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hsiu-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kuei-Yueh
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Pei-Chin
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hung-Chen
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tsu-Kung
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shau-Hsuan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei-Ming
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Cheng-Hsien
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ching-Po
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001284:Atrophy; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019579:Neocortex / Q000473:pathology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology; D009929:Organ Size; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: cerebellum; connectivity; dopamine; magnetic resonance imaging; movement disorder; neuroplasticity; subcortical