Objective:
To investigate the relationship between indicators of mental health, and neuroimaging and genetic markers of Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Background: PD is associated with a significant psychological burden that can manifest at pre-diagnostic stages of the disease. Characterising these manifestations across their different dimensions and their relationship to PD-related genetics and neuroimaging features may enhance early detection.
Method: Factor analysis (FA) was performed across items of the Mental Health Questionnaire (MHQ1, 11 categories) in UK Biobank data collected from healthy participants who had undergone MRI imaging and genetic testing (N = 21,417). The association between FA-extracted mental health dimensions and subcortical brain structural features (volume and magnetic susceptibility) in eight regions was examined, along with the relationship to GBA1 and ApoE4 status.
Results: Three mental health factors were identified: anxiety, depression, and stress-adversity dimensions. The stress-adversity factor, but not anxiety or depression, correlated positively with the magnetic susceptibility of subcortical regions implicated in PD including palladium, putamen and substantia nigra (all p < 0.001). GBA1 carriers, compared to non-carries, showed decreased adversity-stress factor scores and lower magnetic susceptibility in substantia nigra. Comparison across a control genetic status (ApoE4 for Alzheimer’s disease) did not show differences in any of the factor scores.
Conclusion: These results indicate a potential link between stress-adversity and early neurobiological changes related to PD, particularly in GBA1 carriers, highlighting the possible value of integrated mental health, genetic, and neuroimaging assessments for early PD detection. Future analyses will focus on how these findings translate in PD clinical populations and other neurodegenerative disorders.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
B. Attaallah, S. Waters, C. Marshall, A. Noyce. The relationship between dimensions of mental health and markers of Parkinson’s disease risk in the UK Biobank [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2024; 39 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-relationship-between-dimensions-of-mental-health-and-markers-of-parkinsons-disease-risk-in-the-uk-biobank/. Accessed June 14, 2025.« Back to 2024 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-relationship-between-dimensions-of-mental-health-and-markers-of-parkinsons-disease-risk-in-the-uk-biobank/