Risky driving and pedunculopontine nucleus-thalamic cholinergic denervation in Parkinson disease

It is unknown whether driving difficulty in Parkinson disease (PD) is attributable to nigrostriatal dopaminergic or extranigral non-dopaminergic neurodegeneration.

To investigate in vivo imaging differences in dopaminergic and cholinergic innervation between PD patients with and without a history of risky driving.

Thirty non-demented PD subjects (10 women/20 men) completed a driving survey. These subjects had previously undergone (+)-[(11)C] dihydrotetrabenazine vesicular monoamine transporter 2 and [(11)C] methyl-4-piperidinyl propionate acetylcholinesterase PET imaging. Acetylcholinesterase PET imaging assesses cholinergic terminal integrity with cortical uptake largely reflecting basal forebrain and thalamic uptake principally reflecting pedunculopontine nucleus integrity.

Eight of thirty subjects reported a history of risky driving (been pulled over, had a traffic citation, or been in an accident since PD onset) while 22 had no such history (safe drivers). There was no difference in striatal dihydrotetrabenazine vesicular monoamine transporter uptake between risky and safe drivers. There was significantly less thalamic acetylcholinesterase activity in the risky drivers compared to safe drivers (0.0513 ± 0.006 vs. 0.0570 ± 0.006, p = 0.022) but no difference in neocortical acetylcholinesterase activity. Using multivariable logistic regression, decreased thalamic acetylcholinesterase activity remained an independent predictor of risky driving in PD even after controlling for age and disease duration.

Risky driving is related to pedunculopontine nucleus-thalamic but not neocortical cholinergic denervation or nigrostriatal dopaminergic denervation in PD. This suggests that degeneration of the pedunculopontine nucleus, a brainstem center responsible for postural and gait control, plays a role in the ability of PD patients to drive.