Nacim Betrouni1, Renaud Lopes1, Luc Defebvre1,2, Albert F G Leentjens3, Kathy Dujardin1,2. 1. Université de Lille, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille (CHU Lille), Degenerative & Vascular Cognitive Disorders, Lille, France. 2. Neurology and Movement Disorders Department, CHU Lille, Lille, France. 3. Department of Psychiatry, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is a frequent nonmotor symptom of Parkinson's disease. Depending on severity, patients are considered to have mild cognitive impairment or dementia. However, among the cognitively intact patients, some may have deficits in a less severe range. The early detection of such subtle symptoms may be important for the initiation of care strategies. OBJECTIVE: To identify imaging markers of early cognitive symptoms, potentially before usual signs, such as atrophy, become manifest. METHODS: A total of 102 patients with Parkinson's disease and 17 age-matched cognitively intact healthy controls underwent extensive neuropsychological assessment and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Parkinson's disease patients were separated into 3 groups according to their cognitive status: intact, with slight slowing, and with mild deficits in executive functions. Texture features as measured by first-order and second-order statistics were computed in the following 6 brain regions: the hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, putamen, caudate nucleus, and pallidum. They were tested between the groups, and their correlation with cognition was examined. Volumetric measurements were made for comparison. RESULTS: Texture analysis showed significant between-group differences for 2 features-skewness and entropy in the hippocampus, the thalamus, and the amygdala-and the volume analysis revealed no between-group difference. These features were significantly correlated with cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: These results support the assumption that signal alterations associated with Parkinson's disease-related cognitive decline can be captured very early by texture analysis. As these changes appear to reflect clinical phenomena, texture analysis may be a promising marker for helping cognitive phenotyping in Parkinson's disease.
BACKGROUND:Cognitive impairment is a frequent nonmotor symptom of Parkinson's disease. Depending on severity, patients are considered to have mild cognitive impairment or dementia. However, among the cognitively intact patients, some may have deficits in a less severe range. The early detection of such subtle symptoms may be important for the initiation of care strategies. OBJECTIVE: To identify imaging markers of early cognitive symptoms, potentially before usual signs, such as atrophy, become manifest. METHODS: A total of 102 patients with Parkinson's disease and 17 age-matched cognitively intact healthy controls underwent extensive neuropsychological assessment and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Parkinson's diseasepatients were separated into 3 groups according to their cognitive status: intact, with slight slowing, and with mild deficits in executive functions. Texture features as measured by first-order and second-order statistics were computed in the following 6 brain regions: the hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, putamen, caudate nucleus, and pallidum. They were tested between the groups, and their correlation with cognition was examined. Volumetric measurements were made for comparison. RESULTS: Texture analysis showed significant between-group differences for 2 features-skewness and entropy in the hippocampus, the thalamus, and the amygdala-and the volume analysis revealed no between-group difference. These features were significantly correlated with cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: These results support the assumption that signal alterations associated with Parkinson's disease-related cognitive decline can be captured very early by texture analysis. As these changes appear to reflect clinical phenomena, texture analysis may be a promising marker for helping cognitive phenotyping in Parkinson's disease.
Authors: Gianvincenzo Sparacia; Giuseppe Parla; Roberto Cannella; Giuseppe Mamone; Ioannis Petridis; Luigi Maruzzelli; Vincenzina Lo Re; Mona Shahriari; Alberto Iaia; Albert Comelli; Roberto Miraglia; Angelo Luca Journal: Neuroradiology Date: 2022-04-30 Impact factor: 2.995