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Gray/White Matter Contrast in Parkinson's Disease
Carme Uribe1, Barbara Segura1, Hugo C Baggio1
1Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Medicine, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
|April 12, 2018
Summary
Gray/white matter contrast (GWC) is sensitive to aging in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, similar to healthy individuals. However, GWC did not improve the detection of brain atrophy in PD patients compared to standard MRI measures.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Gray/white matter contrast (GWC) is a potential MRI biomarker, decreasing with age and useful in Alzheimer's disease.
- Its utility in Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been previously investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess GWC sensitivity to aging in PD patients.
- To compare GWC between PD patients and healthy controls (HCs).
- To determine if GWC enhances the differentiation of PD from HCs using cortical thickness analysis.
Main Methods:
- T1-weighted MRI scans from 90 PD patients and 27 HCs were analyzed.
- Automated FreeSurfer processing was used to obtain cortical thickness and GWC.
- GWC was calculated as the ratio of white matter to gray matter intensity values.
Main Results:
- Significant age-related GWC decline was observed across the cortex in both PD patients and HCs.
- No significant difference in GWC was found between PD patients and HCs.
- Cortical thinning in temporal and parietal regions was detected in PD patients, unaffected by GWC adjustment.
Conclusions:
- GWC is highly sensitive to aging effects in the brain, including in PD.
- GWC did not offer additional diagnostic value for detecting atrophy in PD beyond established cortical thickness measures.