Background: Mounting research support that cholinergic dysfunction plays a prominent role in freezing of gait (FOG), which commonly occurs in Parkinson's disease (PD). Basal forebrain (BF), especially the cholinergic nuclei 4 (Ch4), provides the primary source of the brain cholinergic input. However, whether the degeneration of BF and its innervated cortex contribute to the pathogenesis of FOG is unknown.
Objective: To explore the role of structural alterations of BF and its innervated cortical brain regions in the pathogenesis of PD patients with freezing.
Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging assessments and neurological assessments were performed on 20 PD patients with FOG (PD-FOG), 20 without FOG (PD-NFOG), and 21 healthy participants. Subregion volumes of the BF were compared among groups. Local gyrification index (LGI) was computed to reveal the cortical alternations. Relationships among subregional BF volumes, LGI, and the severity of FOG were evaluated by multiple linear regression.
Results: Our study discovered that, compared to PD-NFOG, PD-FOG exhibited significant Ch4 atrophy (p = 4.6 × 10 ), accompanied by decreased LGI values in the left entorhinal cortex (p = 3.00 × 10 ) and parahippocampal gyrus (p = 2.90 × 10 ). Based on the regression analysis, Ch4 volume was negatively associated with FOG severity in PD-FOG group (β = -12.224, T = -2.556, p = 0.031).
Interpretation: Our results imply that Ch4 degeneration and microstructural disorganization of its innervated cortical brain regions may play important roles in PD-FOG.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51769 | DOI Listing |
Unlabelled: Motivated behaviors are regulated by distributed forebrain networks. Traditional approaches have often focused on individual brain regions and connections that do not capture the topographic organization of forebrain connectivity. We performed co-injections of anterograde and retrograde tract tracers in rats to provide novel high-spatial resolution evidence of topographic connections that elaborate a previously identified closed-loop forebrain circuit implicated in affective and motivational processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Res Ther
January 2025
Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Rostock, 18147, Rostock, Germany.
Background: Degeneration of the basal forebrain cholinergic system is a hallmark feature shared by Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Lewy body disease (LBD) whereas hippocampus atrophy is more specifically related to AD. We aimed to investigate the relationship between basal forebrain and hippocampus atrophy, cognitive decline, and neuropathology in a large autopsy sample.
Methods: Data were obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC).
Handb Clin Neurol
January 2025
Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Research Cluster Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
The nonvisual effects of light in humans are mainly conveyed by a subset of retinal ganglion cells that contain the pigment melanopsin which renders them intrinsically photosensitive (= intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, ipRGCs). They have direct connections to the main circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus and modulate a variety of physiological processes, pineal melatonin secretion, autonomic functions, cognitive processes such as attention, and behavior, including sleep and wakefulness. This is because efferent projections from the SCN reach other hypothalamic nuclei, the pineal gland, thalamus, basal forebrain, and the brainstem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Prev Alzheimers Dis
February 2025
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany; Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Greifswald, Rostock, Germany.
Background: Imaging studies showed early atrophy of the cholinergic basal forebrain in prodromal sporadic Alzheimer's disease and reduced posterior basal forebrain functional connectivity in amyloid positive individuals with subjective cognitive decline. Similar investigations in familial cases of Alzheimer's disease are still lacking.
Objectives: To test whether presenilin-1 E280A mutation carriers have reduced basal forebrain functional connectivity and whether this is linked to amyloid pathology.
Iran J Basic Med Sci
January 2025
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of different doses of essential oil (Lavender EO) administered by inhalation on sleep latency and neuromodulators regulating the sleep/wake cycle in rats with total sleep deprivation (TSD).
Materials And Methods: Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: Control, Alprazolam (ALP, 0.25 mg/kg given intraperitoneally), L1 (Lavender EO, 0.
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