P 70 MR imaging correlates of impaired eye movement control in parkinsonian syndromes. Issue 10 (October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gorges, M.; Müller, H.P.; Rosskopf, J.; Vintonyak, O.; Ludolph, A.C.; Pinkhardt, E.H.; Kassubek, J.
• Is Part Of: Clinical neurophysiology. Volume 128:Issue 10(2017:Oct.)
• Page Start: e362
• Page End: e363
• Publication Date: 2017-10
• Subjects: Neurophysiology -- Periodicals; Electroencephalography -- Periodicals; Electromyography -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.06.146
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1388-2457

Abstract

Abstract : Background: The neurophysiology of eye movement control provides a window into brain pathology in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Multisystem Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) (Gorges et al., 2016 ). Structural and functional brain architecture can be investigated using Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), Atlas-based morphometry (ABV) and "resting-state" fMRI. Objective: To investigate the association between impaired oculomotor control and both volumetric as well as structural and functional brain connectivity changes in PD, MSA, and PSP patients. Methods: A total of 152 patients including 71 PD, 56 PSP, and 25 MSA patients together with 56 matched healthy controls underwent video-oculographic examination (EyeSeeCam®) and whole-brain based DTI, high-resolution3DT1-weighted, and 'resting-state' MRI. Results: Impaired executive oculomotor control was a prominent feature in PD as measured for the rate of saccadic intrusions ( p < 0.001) which was significantly correlated with cerebral brain atrophy ( p < 0.001, corrected), white matter impairment ( p < 0.01, corrected), and functional connectivity loss along the default mode network's midline cores ( p < 0.001, corrected), respectively. Vertical gaze palsy is the eponymous feature in PSP and was significantly correlated with midbrain atrophy ( p < 0.01, corrected), midbrain microstructural damage ( p < 0.001, corrected), and regional functional connectivity loss in the midbrain ( p < 0.001, corrected). Pronounced saccadized pursuit ( p < 0.001) was a cardinal feature in MSA which was correlated with pontine atrophy and white matter damage in the middle cerebral peduncle ( p < 0.001). Conclusions: Worse oculomotor performance in the disease-specific domain was associated with more severely impaired regional macro- and microstructure and reduced regional functional connectivity in disease-specific brain structures. These findings increase our pathophysiological knowledge of the underlying parkinsonism-associated pathology and pave the way towards a video-oculographic surrogate marker.