Exploring brain asymmetry in early‐stage Parkinson's disease through functional and structural MRI

Abstract Objective This study explores the correlation between asymmetrical brain functional activity, gray matter asymmetry, and the severity of early‐stage Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods Ninety‐three early‐stage PD patients (ePD, H‐Y stages 1–2.5) were recruited, divided into 47 mild (ePD‐mild, H‐Y stages 1–1.5) and 46 moderate (ePD‐moderate, H‐Y stages 2–2.5) cases, alongside 43 matched healthy controls (HCs). The study employed the Hoehn and Yahr (H‐Y) staging system for disease severity assessment and utilized voxel‐mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) for analyzing brain functional activity asymmetry. Asymmetry voxel‐based morphometry analysis (VBM) was applied to evaluate gray matter asymmetry. Results The study found that, relative to HCs, both PD subgroups demonstrated reduced VMHC values in regions including the amygdala, putamen, inferior and middle temporal gyrus, and cerebellum Crus I. The ePD‐moderate group also showed decreased VMHC in additional regions such as the postcentral gyrus, lingual gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus, with notably lower VMHC in the superior frontal gyrus compared to the ePD‐mild group. A negative correlation was observed between the mean VMHC values in the superior frontal gyrus and H‐Y stages, UPDRS, and UPDRS‐III scores. No significant asymmetry in gray matter was detected. Conclusions Asymmetrical brain functional activity is a significant characteristic of PD, which exacerbates as the disease severity increases, resembling the dissemination of Lewy bodies across the PD neurological framework. VMHC emerges as a potent tool for characterizing disease severity in early‐stage PD.