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Grey matter changes in cognitively impaired Parkinson's disease patients
Rektorova I, Biundo R, Marecek R, Weis L, Aarsland D, Antonini A.. PloS one, 2014-01-21
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Cortical changes associated with cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease (PD) are not fully explored and require investigations with established diagnostic classification criteria. Objective We used MRI source-based morphometry to evaluate specific differences in grey matter volume patterns across 4 groups of subjects: healthy controls (HC), PD with normal cognition (PD-NC), PD with mild cognitive impairment (MCI-PD) and PD with dementia (PDD). Methods We examined 151 consecutive subjects: 25 HC, 75 PD-NC, 29 MCI-PD, and 22 PDD at an Italian and Czech movement disorder centre. Operational diagnostic criteria were applied to classify MCI-PD and PDD. All structural MRI images were processed together in the Czech centre. The spatial independent component analysis was used to assess group differences of local grey matter volume. Results We identified two independent patterns of grey matter volume deviations: a) Reductions in the hippocampus and temporal lobes; b) Decreases in fronto-parietal regions and increases in the midbrain/cerebellum. Both patterns differentiated PDD from all other groups and correlated with visuospatial deficits and letter verbal fluency, respectively. Only the second pattern additionally differentiated PD-NC from HC. Conclusion Grey matter changes in PDD involve areas associated with Alzheimer-like pathology while fronto-parietal abnormalities are possibly an early marker of PD cognitive decline. These findings are consistent with a non-linear cognitive progression in PD.
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APA 7th
Rektorova, I., Biundo, R., Marecek, R., Weis, L., Aarsland, D., & Antonini, A. (2014). Grey matter changes in cognitively impaired Parkinson's disease patients. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085595
Vancouver
Rektorova I, Biundo R, Marecek R, Weis L, Aarsland D, Antonini A. Grey matter changes in cognitively impaired Parkinson's disease patients. PloS one. 2014. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085595. PMID: 24465612.
BibTeX
@article{rektorova2014-24465612,
author = {Rektorova, I. and Biundo, R. and Marecek, R. and Weis, L. and Aarsland, D. and Antonini, A.},
title = {{Grey matter changes in cognitively impaired Parkinson's disease patients}},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0085595},
pmid = {24465612},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085595}
}
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Key findings
- Background Cortical changes associated with cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease (PD) are not fully explored and require investigations with established diagnostic classification criteria.
- Results We identified two independent patterns of grey matter volume deviations: a) Reductions in the hippocampus and temporal lobes; b) Decreases in fronto-parietal regions and increases in the midbrain/cerebellum.
- Conclusion Grey matter changes in PDD involve areas associated with Alzheimer-like pathology while fronto-parietal abnormalities are possibly an early marker of PD cognitive decline.
- These findings are consistent with a non-linear cognitive progression in PD.
Why it matters
This imaging study found two patterns of gray matter changes in people with Parkinson's disease and cognitive impairment, including reductions in the hippocampus and temporal lobes in Parkinson's disease dementia. It is about understanding brain changes in Parkinson's disease, not about treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (PloS one) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | PLoS ONE: journal h-index 594 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 81 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 5.8 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 10 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Angelo Antonini: h-index 105 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 4 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24465612) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
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