title: Functional Connectivity Differences of the Subthalamic Nucleus Related to Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: A typical feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) is pathological activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Here, we tested whether in patients with PD under dopaminergic treatment functional connectivity of the STN differs from healthy controls (HC) and whether some brain regions show (anti-) correlations between functional connectivity with STN and motor symptoms. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity with STN in 54 patients with PD and 55 HC matched for age, gender, and within-scanner motion. Compared to HC, we found attenuated negative STN-coupling with Crus I of the right cerebellum and with right ventromedial prefrontal regions in patients with PD. Furthermore, we observed enhanced negative STN-coupling with bilateral intraparietal sulcus/superior parietal cortex, right sensorimotor, right premotor, and left visual cortex compared to HC. Finally, we found a decline in positive STN-coupling with the left insula related to severity of motor symptoms and a decline of inter-hemispheric functional connectivity between left and right STN with progression of PD-related motor symptoms. Motor symptom related uncoupling of the insula, a key region in the saliency network and for executive function, from the STN might be associated with well-known executive dysfunction in PD. Moreover, uncoupling between insula and STN might also induce an insufficient setting of thresholds for the discrimination between relevant and irrelevant salient environmental stimuli, explaining observations of disturbed response control in PD. In sum, motor symptoms in PD are associated with a reduced coupling between STN and a key region for executive function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mathys
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Caspers
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Center for Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation, Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Südmeyer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Department of Neurology, Neuromodulation & Neurorehabilitation Group, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grefkes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Department of Neurology and JARA BRAIN, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reetz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexia-Sabine
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Moldovan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Department of Neurology, Neuromodulation & Neurorehabilitation Group, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Michely
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and JARA BRAIN, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Turowski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Center for Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation, Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Alfons
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schnitzler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hoffstaedter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, INM-3, INM-4), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.|Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D012146:Rest; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Parkinson's disease; brain networks; fMRI; healthy subjects; subthalamic nucleus