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REGIONAL ABNORMALITIES IN CEREBELLAR STRUCTURE ASSOCIATED WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE: A MULTICOHORT CASE-CONTROL STUDY
Abstract
Aims
The cerebellum is a crucial structure for both motor and cognitive functions, yet studies on cerebellar abnormalities in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are limited and findings lack consistency. With a multi-cohort approach and state-of-the-art analysis methods, we attempted to better understand how cerebellar structure is affected in PD.
Methods
T1-weighted MR images of 670 PD patients (mean age 65.1y, 41% female, mean illness duration 4.1y) and 275 healthy controls (mean age 63.6y, 51% female) were collected from eight cohorts, and processed using the ACAPULCO segmentation toolbox (http://iacl.jhu.edu/index.php?title=Cerebellum_CNN). Linear mixed-effect models, including age, sex, ICV, and cohort as covariates, were used for group comparison of volumes of 14 cerebellar lobules in each hemisphere. P-values were FDR-corrected.
Results
Compared to controls, PD patients showed a higher total volume (t = 2.55, puncorrected = 0.011) and regional volume in 7 of 28 lobules (tmin = 2.19, tmax = 3.80, puncorrected < 0.029), before FDR-correction. After correction, the right lobule V (t = 3.26, pFDR = 0.014) and right lobule VI (t = 3.80, pFDR < 0.001) remained significantly different.
Conclusions
The larger lobules in PD are intriguing in the context of neurodenegeration. Lobule V and VI have previously been linked to motor function; possibly the enlargement is the result of (temporary) hypertrophy due to constant motor activation in patients. This is supported by literature showing that greater intensity of tremor is related to an enlargement of lobule V. Follow-up research will need to focus on the relation between motor and cognitive symptoms and cerebellar morphology in PD.