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HomeArticlesVol 36,2026 No.2Detail

Voxel-based analysis of tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease: a study on brain magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging

Published on Mar. 05, 2026Total Views: 25 timesTotal Downloads: 7 timesDownloadMobile

Author: FAN Min 1 DENG Jie 2 LI Qian 1 YUAN Yizhi 1 AO Yongsheng 1 JIANG Ling 3 QIU Lihua 1, 4

Affiliation: 1. Medical Imaging Center, Yibin Second People's Hospital, Yibin 644000, Sichuan Province, China 2. Department of Radiology, Yibin Fourth People's Hospital, Yibin 644000, Sichuan Province, China 3. Department of Neurology, Yibin Second People's Hospital, Yibin 644000, Sichuan Province, China 4. Clinical Medicine Research and Transformation Center, Neuroimaging Big Data Research Center, Yibin Second People's Hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Yibin Hospital, Yibin 644000, Sichuan Province, China

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease Diffusion-tensor imaging Tremor White matter

DOI: 10.12173/j.issn.1004-5511.202412093

Reference: Fan M, Deng J, Li Q, et al. Voxel-based analysis of tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease: a study on brain magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging[J]. Yixue Xinzhi Zazhi, 2026, 36(2): 236-242. DOI: 10.12173/j.issn.1004-5511.202412093. [Article in Chinese]

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Abstract

Objective  To investigate the diagnostic value of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technology in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease (TD-PD).

Methods  Prospectively included TD-PD patients diagnosed in the Department of Neurology in the Yibin Second People's Hospital from December 2019 to March 2023, along with healthy volunteers as the control group. 3D-T1WI and DTI sequences were scanned for both the TD-PD group and the control group. The FSL software was utilized to calculate whole- brain white matter fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD). Group differences in whole-brain white matter FA, MD, AD, and RD were compared using the voxel-based analysis (VBA) method. Furthermore, the correlations between DTI parameters in the TD- PD group and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Hoehn-Yahr staging, and Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) scores were analyzed.

Results  A total of 50 subjects were included, comprising 31 cases in the case group and 19 controls in the control group. Compared with the control group, patients in the TD-PD group exhibited decreased FA in the corpus callosum body (voxel-wise P<0.001, uncorrected, cluster-wise P<0.05, FWE-corrected), while MD, AD, and RD increased in the left anterior cerebellar lobe, and MD and AD increased in the right frontal lobe (voxel-level P<0.001, cluster- level P<0.05, uncorrected). Correlation analysis revealed a positive association between MD in the left anterior cerebellar lobe and Hoehn-Yahr staging (r=0.417, P=0.020).

Conclusion  TD-PD patients have more extensive cerebral white matter microstructural changes, in which corpus callosum degeneration may be the pathophysiological basis of TD-PD. The structural changes in the left cerebellar anterior lobe may contribute to the development of tremor symptoms in PD patients.

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