Abstract

Approximately one third of recently diagnosed Parkinson's disease (PD) patients experience cognitive decline. The nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) degenerates early in PD and is crucial for cognitive function. The two main NBM white matter pathways include a lateral and medial trajectory. However, research is needed to determine which pathway, if any, are associated with PD-related cognitive decline.Thirty-seven PD patients with no mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were included in this study. Participants either developed MCI at 1-year follow up (PD MCI-Converters; n?=?16) or did not (PD no-MCI; n?=?21). Mean diffusivity (MD) of the medial and lateral NBM tracts were extracted using probabilistic tractography. Between-group differences in MD for each tract was compared using ANCOVA, controlling for age, sex, and disease duration. Control comparisons of the internal capsule MD were also performed. Associations between baseline MD and cognitive outcomes (working memory, psychomotor speed, delayed recall, and visuospatial function) were assessed using linear mixed models.PD MCI-Converters had significantly greater MD and lower FA (p?

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106243

View details for PubMedID 37524210