Advanced brain aging, selective vulnerability in gray matter, and cognition in Parkinson's disease

To identify the most vulnerable brain regions in gray matter attributable to advanced brain aging and examine the cognitive correlates of advanced brain aging in Parkinson's disease (PD).

One hundred twenty-five early-stage PD patients with both structural, diffusion MRI and DAT-SPECT data available were included at baseline (year 0) from Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, with neuroimaging follow-up at year 1, 2, 4. Annual assessment of cognition was performed in 5 years. The relationships between brain-predicted age difference (PAD), free water (FW) in cortical and subcortical gray matter, and cognition were examined with linear regression and linear mixed-effects model. Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the relation between brain PAD and the risk of conversion to mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

One hundred twenty-five PD patients with a mean (SD) chronological age of 60.99 (9.50) years and 82 (65.6%) were men. Brain PAD followed a non-linear progression pattern over time (P = .028). Brain PAD was differentially associated with FW in cortical and subcortical gray matter, with the most preferentially vulnerable regions identified as temporal cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and cholinergic basal forebrain. Baseline brain PAD was associated with cognitive deficits and the conversion to MCI during the 5-year follow-up.

Our findings suggest that brain PAD offers potential in pinpointing regions most susceptible to accelerated brain aging and identifying patients with Parkinson's disease who are at an increased risk of converting to mild cognitive impairment. .