Apomorphine reduces BOLD signal in fMRI during voluntary movement in Parkinsonian patients

Our group investigated modulatory effects of apomorphine on cerebral activation patterns during finger tapping movements in seven Parkinson's disease (PD) patients off medication. Cerebral activation was measured according to an established fMRI protocol. Apomorphine application disclosed a reduction of cerebral activation patterns to the contralateral precentral gyrus affecting both clinically affected and unaffected sides; tapping with the unaffected hand additionally revealed activation in the contralateral postcentral gyrus. These findings contradict those of similar functional imaging studies performed in PD to date, which variously found augmentation of cerebral activation patterns in Parkinsonian patients after dopaminergic stimulation. One conceivable explanation for our singular results would be preferred binding of apomorphine to presynaptic dopaminergic receptors, leading to inhibition of endogenous dopamine release and resultant diminished dopaminergic stimulation, reflected in diminished cerebral activation patterns. These findings warrant future consideration and further investigation of possible central inhibitory effects of dopaminergic therapy in functional imaging studies in PD.