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White matter hyperintensity tissue property spatial variations as a function of cognitive status in Parkinson’s disease
Mariyemuguli Reheman, Sagar Buch, Naying He, Pei Huang, Qiurong Yu, Xinhui Wang, Yu Liu, Youmin Zhang et al.. NeuroImage, 2025-04-23
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
• Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cognitive impairment demonstrated a significantly greater burden of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), with the highest burden observed in those with PD dementia. Moreover, total WMH volume showed a significant negative correlation with cognitive scores. • Quantitative MRI (qMRI) measures of tissue properties, including water content, T1, and T2*, were significantly elevated in WMH lesions compared to normal-appearing white matter (NAWM). Additionally, qMRI effectively captured the heterogeneity of tissue properties within WMH. • Water content, T1, and T2* exhibited a gradient of decreasing intensity from the ventricles toward the periphery, as demonstrated by tissue property heatmaps and lesion-ventricle distance profiles. • Voxel-wise analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the qMRI tissue properties of periventricular WMH and MoCA scores. WMH volume was significantly higher in PDD compared to other groups ( p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with MoCA scores ( r = −0.352, p < 0.001). WMH appeared predominantly around the lateral ventricles, with anterior horn involvement common to all groups and posterior horn involvement specific to PDD. qMRI measures were significantly elevated in WMH compared to normal appearing white matter (NAWM) ( p < 0.001), with heatmaps showing a negative gradient of tissue property changes from the lateral ventricles to the NAWM. Voxel-wise analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the qMRI tissue properties of periventricular WMH and MoCA scores, with the strongest association observed in the periventricular WM situated just beyond the boundary of the lateral ventricles.
Key findings
- • Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cognitive impairment demonstrated a significantly greater burden of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), with the highest burden observed in those with PD dementia.
- Moreover, total WMH volume showed a significant negative correlation with cognitive scores. • Quantitative MRI (qMRI) measures of tissue properties, including water content, T1, and T2*, were significantly elevated in WMH lesions compared to normal-appearing white matter (NAWM).
- Additionally, qMRI effectively captured the heterogeneity of tissue properties within WMH. • Water content, T1, and T2* exhibited a gradient of decreasing intensity from the ventricles toward the periphery, as demonstrated by tissue property heatmaps and lesion-ventricle distance profiles. • Voxel-wise analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the qMRI tissue properties of periventricular WMH and MoCA scores.
- WMH volume was significantly higher in PDD compared to other groups ( p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with MoCA scores ( r = −0.352, p < 0.001).
- WMH appeared predominantly around the lateral ventricles, with anterior horn involvement common to all groups and posterior horn involvement specific to PDD. qMRI measures were significantly elevated in WMH compared to normal appearing white matter (NAWM) ( p < 0.001), with heatmaps showing a negative gradient of tissue property changes from the lateral ventricles to the NAWM.
Why it matters
In people with Parkinson's disease, greater amounts of white matter hyperintensities were linked to worse cognitive scores, with the highest burden in those who had Parkinson's disease dementia. This is an observational study, so it cannot show whether these brain changes cause the cognitive problems or how to treat them.
Study details
- Participants122
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NeuroImage) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | NeuroImage: journal h-index 523 (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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 122 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 5 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 5 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Fuhua Yan: h-index 39 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University: institution h-index 975 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40280215) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121236
- PubMed: 40280215
- Original source →
- Free full text: NeuroImage →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Reheman, M., Buch, S., He, N., Huang, P., Yu, Q., Wang, X., et al. (2025). White matter hyperintensity tissue property spatial variations as a function of cognitive status in Parkinson’s disease. NeuroImage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121236
Vancouver
Reheman M, Buch S, He N, Huang P, Yu Q, Wang X, et al. White matter hyperintensity tissue property spatial variations as a function of cognitive status in Parkinson’s disease. NeuroImage. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121236. PMID: 40280215.
BibTeX
@article{reheman2025-40280215,
author = {Reheman, Mariyemuguli and Buch, Sagar and He, Naying and Huang, Pei and Yu, Qiurong and Wang, Xinhui and Liu, Yu and Zhang, Youmin and others},
title = {{White matter hyperintensity tissue property spatial variations as a function of cognitive status in Parkinson’s disease}},
journal = {NeuroImage},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121236},
pmid = {40280215},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121236}
}
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