AUTHOR=Gan Lu , Yan Rui , Su Dongning , Liu Zhu , Miao Guozhen , Wang Zhan , Wang Xuemei , Ma Huizi , Bai Yutong , Zhou Junhong , Feng Tao 

TITLE=Alterations of structure and functional connectivity of visual brain network in patients with freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.978976

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2022.978976

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=<p>Freezing of gait (FOG) is a disabling gait disorder common in advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The gait performance of PD-FOG patients is closely linked with visual processing. Here, we aimed to investigate the structural and functional change of visual network in PD-FOG patients. Seventy-eight PD patients (25 with FOG, 53 without FOG) and 29 healthy controls (HCs) were included. All the participants underwent structural 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting state functional MRI scan. Our results demonstrated a significant decrease of right superior occipital gyrus gray matter density in PD-FOG relative to non-FOG (NFOG) patients and healthy controls (PD-FOG vs. PD-NFOG: 0.33 ± 0.04 vs. 0.37 ± 0.05, <italic>p</italic> = 0.005; PD-FOG vs. HC: 0.37 ± 0.05 vs. 0.39 ± 0.06, <italic>p</italic> = 0.002). Functional MRI revealed a significant decrease of connectivity between right superior occipital gyrus and right paracentral lobule in PD-FOG compared to PD-NFOG (<italic>p</italic> = 0.045). In addition, the connectivity strength was positively correlated with gray matter density of right superior occipital gyrus (<italic>r</italic> = 0.471, <italic>p</italic> = 0.027) and negatively associated with freezing of gait questionnaire (FOGQ) score (<italic>r</italic> = -0.562, <italic>p</italic> = 0.004). Our study suggests that the structural and functional impairment of visual-motor network might underlie the neural mechanism of FOG in PD.</p>