title: Abnormal amygdala function in Parkinson's disease patients and its relationship to depression.
abstract: Depression is a common occurrence in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Thus, there may be a common neural mechanism underlying the two diseases. Lewy body accumulation in specific brain areas of PD patients may damage emotion-related functions, leading to depression. Among these areas, the amygdala may present with the earliest to be damaged in PD. However, it is still unclear whether amygdala structural and functional changes are related to depression in PD. We enrolled 19 depressed PD patients, 19 non-depressed PD patients, and 28 normal control subjects. Clinical assessment, including the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the Mini-Mental State Examination, was carried out on all the patients. Structural and resting-state functional brain images were also acquired to assess volumetric and functional changes of the amygdala in the patients. Results showed that although there is no significant volume change, left amygdala activity increased in the PD group compared with the normal control group, and it correlated with Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores. Furthermore, functional connectivity between the right amygdala and fronto-parietal areas was found to be decreased in the depressed PD patients compared with non-depressed PD patients. These results suggest that abnormal amygdala function may underlie the occurrence of depression in PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Peiyu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Quanquan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Xinfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China. Electronic address: zhangminming@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Minming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations; Depression; Functional connectivity; Parkinson's disease