Cortical thickness in Parkinson disease: A coordinate-based meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroscience
• Neurology

Background:

• Surface-based morphometry (SBM) studies investigating gray matter cortical thickness (CTh) in Parkinson disease (PD) show inconsistent results.
• A systematic review is needed to clarify CTh alterations in PD.
• Coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) is an updated tool for integrating SBM studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and synthesize evidence on CTh abnormalities in PD using CBMA.
• To identify consistent patterns of CTh alterations in PD across studies.
• To explore the potential for CTh alterations as biomarkers for PD.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature search of multiple databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, SinoMed) up to February 2, 2020.
• Inclusion of SBM studies comparing regional CTh between PD patients and healthy controls using SDM-PSI.
• Conducting main CBMA with supplementary analyses including jackknife, subgroup, heterogeneity, publication bias, and meta-regression analyses.

Main Results:

• The coordinate-based meta-analysis will provide the most current evidence regarding CTh alterations in Parkinson disease.
• Expected to identify specific regions of significant CTh changes in PD patients compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• Consistent and robust evidence of CTh alterations is expected to characterize brain morphometry in PD.
• These findings may contribute to the development of reliable biomarkers for Parkinson disease.