Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the functional alterations of the parafascicular nucleus (Pf) projections in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients.

Background: Recent animal model studies have suggested that the Pf has the potential to be an effective deep brain stimulation target for PD. However, our knowledge on the role of the Pf in PD patients remains limited.

Method: The study enrolled 72 PD patients and age- and gender-matched 60 healthy controls (HCs), then utilized resting-state functional MRI and spectral dynamic causal modeling to explore the effective connectivity (EC) of the bilateral parafascicular nucleus (Pf) to the dorsal putamen (dPu), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and subthalamic nucleus (STN). The associations between the effective connectivity of the Pf projections and clinical features were measured with partial correlations.

Results: Compared with HCs, the EC from the Pf to dPu was significantly increased, while the connectivity to the NAc and STN was significantly reduced in PD patients. There was a significantly positive correlation between the connectivity of Pf-dPu projection and motor deficits, especially bradykinesia. The connectivity from the Pf to the STN was positively correlated with apathy, while the connectivity from the Pf to the NAc was negatively associated with depression. In addition, there was a tendency for a positive correlation between the connectivity of Pf-STN projections and cognitive ability.

Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that the Pf-related projections are damaged and associated with clinical symptoms of PD. The findings provide new insights into the impaired basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits and give support for the Pf as a potential effective neuromodulating target of the disease.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dysconnectivity-of-the-parafascicular-nucleus-in-parkinsons-disease/