Simon
Baudrexel1,2, Torsten Witte1, Carola Seifried1,
Frederic von Wegner3, Johannes C. Klein3, Helmuth
Steinmetz3, Ralf Deichmann2, Rdiger Hilker3
1Department of Neurology, University
Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt , Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Germany; 2Brain
Imaging Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; 3Department
of Neurology, University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am
Main, Germany, Germany
It
is well established that dopaminergic depletion as observed in Parkinsons
Disease (PD) alters metabolic and electrophysiological functional
connectivity (FC) in large scale motor networks. Here we investigated FC of
the subthalamic nucleus, a key player in PD-pathophysiology, using resting
state fMRI and a common seed-voxel approach. We found significantly increased
subthalamic FC to the primary motor cortex (PMC) in PD patients as compared
to healthy controls. A subsequent seed-voxel analysis revealed increased FC
between the left PMC and the bilateral cerebellum. The physiological and
clinical relevance of this finding remains further to be determined.