title: Altered cerebellar connectivity in Parkinson's patients ON and OFF L-DOPA medication.
abstract: Although nigrostriatal changes are most commonly affiliated with Parkinson's disease, the role of the cerebellum in Parkinson's has become increasingly apparent. The present study used lobule-based cerebellar resting state functional connectivity to (1) compare cerebellar-whole brain and cerebellar-cerebellar connectivity in Parkinson's patients both ON and OFF L-DOPA medication and controls, and to (2) relate variations in cerebellar connectivity to behavioral performance. Results indicated that, when contrasted to the control group, Parkinson's patients OFF medication had increased levels of cerebellar-whole brain and cerebellar-cerebellar connectivity, whereas Parkinson's patients ON medication had decreased levels of cerebellar-whole brain and cerebellar-cerebellar connectivity. Moreover, analyses relating levels of cerebellar connectivity to behavioral measures demonstrated that, within each group, increased levels of connectivity were most often associated with improved cognitive and motor performance, but there were several instances where increased connectivity was related to poorer performance. Overall, the present study found medication-variant cerebellar connectivity in Parkinson's patients, further demonstrating cerebellar changes associated with Parkinson's disease and the moderating effects of medication.
authors.affiliation: Center for Vital Longevity, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Sara B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Festini
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Youngbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: Functional MRI Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peltier
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA ; Department of Neurology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA ; Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, VA Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Nicolaas I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Bohnen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Martijn L T M
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dayalu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA ; School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Rachael D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Seidler
keywords: L-DOPA; Parkinson's disease (PD); cerebellum; lobules; resting state functional connectivity