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Updated: May 20, 2026

Histological Examination of Mitochondrial Morphology in a Parkinson's Disease Model
Published on: June 23, 2023
Thalamic projection fiber integrity in de novo Parkinson disease
P J Planetta1, E T Schulze, E K Geary
1Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
Background And Purpose:
Postmortem studies of advanced PD have revealed disease-related pathology in the thalamus with an apparent predilection for specific thalamic nuclei. In the present study, we used DTI to investigate in vivo the microstructural integrity of 6 thalamic regions in de novo patients with PD relative to healthy controls.
Materials And Methods:
Forty subjects (20 with early stage untreated PD and 20 age- and sex-matched controls) were studied with a high-resolution DTI protocol at 3T to investigate the integrity of thalamic nuclei projection fibers. Two blinded, independent raters drew ROIs in the following 6 thalamic regions: AN, VA, VL, DM, VPL/VPM, and PU. FA values were then calculated from the projection fibers in each region.
Results:
FA values were reduced significantly in the fibers projecting from the AN, VA, and DM, but not the VPL/VPM and PU, in the PD group compared with the control group. In addition, there was a reduction in FA values that approached significance in the VL of patients with PD. These findings were consistent across both raters.
Conclusions:
The present study provides preliminary in vivo evidence of thalamic projection fiber degeneration in de novo PD and sheds light on the extent of disrupted thalamic circuitry as a result of the disease itself.
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