Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 15, 2025
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
Abnormal white matter microstructures in Parkinson's disease and comorbid depression: A whole-brain diffusion tensor
Zonghong Li1, Weiguo Liu2, Chaoyong Xiao1
1Department of Radiology, Affiliated Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Objective:
Depressive symptoms are the most common non-motor symptom accompanying Parkinson's disease (PD); however, the neural basis of depression in PD remains unclear. The aim of this study was to characterize possible depression-related white matter microstructural differences in patients with PD and comorbid depression compared with PD patients and healthy controls (HC) without depression.
Methods:
We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to analyze white matter integrity in depressed PD patients (n = 30), non-depressed PD patients (n = 43), and HC (n = 91). Five MRI-derived indices were estimated: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), and white matter volume (WMV).
Results:
Compared with HC and non-depressed PD, depressed PD patients showed significantly increased AD values in the body of corpus callosum, right anterior corona radiate, and left hippocampal part of the cingulum, as well as increased MD values in the left hippocampal part of the cingulum.
Conclusions:
Our results show that frontal and limbic white matter integrity is impaired in depressed PD patients. These findings can be used to better understand potential mechanisms of depression in PD.
