Olfactory Impairment in Parkinson's Disease Studied with Diffusion Tensor and Magnetization Transfer Imaging

Charalampos Georgiopoulos, Marcel Warntjes, Nil Dizdar, Helene Zachrisson, Maria Engström, Sven Haller, Elna-Marie Larsson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Olfactory impairment is an early manifestation of Parkinson's disease (PD). Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Magnetization Transfer (MT) are two imaging techniques that allow noninvasive detection of microstructural changes in the cerebral white matter.

OBJECTIVE: To assess white matter alterations associated with olfactory impairment in PD, using a binary imaging approach with DTI and MT.

METHODS: 22 PD patients and 13 healthy controls were examined with DTI, MT and an odor discrimination test. DTI data were first analyzed with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) in order to detect differences in fractional anisotropy, mean, radial and axial diffusivity between PD patients and controls. Voxelwise randomized permutation was employed for the MT analysis, after spatial and intensity normalization. Additionally, ROI analysis was performed on both the DTI and MT data, focused on the white matter adjacent to olfactory brain regions.

RESULTS: Whole brain voxelwise analysis revealed decreased axial diffusivity in the left uncinate fasciculus and the white matter adjacent to the left olfactory sulcus of PD patients. ROI analysis demonstrated decreased axial diffusivity in the right orbitofrontal cortex, as well as decreased mean diffusivity and axial diffusivity in the white matter of the left entorhinal cortex of PD patients. There were no significant differences regarding fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity or MT between patients and controls.

CONCLUSIONS: ROI analysis of DTI could detect microstructural changes in the white matter adjacent to olfactory areas in PD patients, whereas MT imaging could not.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)301-311
JournalJournal of Parkinson's Disease
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Neurosciences
  • Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging

Free keywords

  • Aged
  • Agnosia/complications
  • Brain/diagnostic imaging
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging
  • Discrimination, Psychological
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Olfactory Pathways/diagnostic imaging
  • Parkinson Disease/complications
  • White Matter/diagnostic imaging

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Olfactory Impairment in Parkinson's Disease Studied with Diffusion Tensor and Magnetization Transfer Imaging'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this