Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

White matter tract alterations in Parkinson's disease patients with punding

2017; Elsevier BV; Volume: 43; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.parkreldis.2017.07.025

1873-5126

Elisa Canu, Federica Agosta, Vladana Marković, Igor Petrović, Iva Stanković, Francesca Imperiale, Tanja Stojković, Massimiliano Copetti, Vladimir Kostić, Massimo Filippi,

Botulinum Toxin and Related Neurological Disorders

To assess brain white matter tract alterations in patients with Parkinson's disease and punding (PD-punding) compared with controls and PD cases without any impulsive-compulsive behaviour.Forty-nine PD patients (21 PD-punding and 28 PD with no impulsive-compulsive behaviours) and 28 controls were consecutively recruited. Clinical, cognitive and psychopathological evaluations were performed. Diffusion tensor MRI metrics of the main white matter tracts were assessed using a tractography approach.Compared with controls, both PD groups showed white matter microstructural alterations of the left pedunculopontine tract and splenium of the corpus callosum. PD-punding patients showed a further damage to the right pedunculopontine tract and uncinate fasciculus, genu of the corpus callosum, and left parahippocampal tract relative to controls. When adjusting for depression and/or apathy severity, a greater damage of the genu of the corpus callosum and the left pedunculopontine tract was found in PD-punding compared with patients with no impulsive-compulsive behaviours.PD-punding is associated with a disconnection between midbrain, limbic and white matter tracts projecting to the frontal cortices. These alterations are at least partially independent of their psychopathological changes. Diffusion tensor MRI is a powerful tool for understanding the neural substrates underlying punding in PD.