Characterizing microstructural patterns within the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit in Parkinson’s disease

Motivation: Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathologically involves regional impairments and network disturbances. However, its microstructural abnormalities remain to be further elucidated via an appropriate neuroimaging approach. Goal(s): We thus aimed to investigate the microstructural patterns of PD as mapped by diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). Approach: The intergroup difference and classification performance of global microstructural complexity were analyzed, respectively. The network disruptions were explored in terms of structural connectivity, network covariance and modular connectivity. Results: Our findings indicated that PD encountered globally impaired microstructural complexity, disturbed structural connectivity between basal ganglia and cortices, aberrant network covariance within the striatum and thalamus and altered modular connectivity. Impact: These findings verified the potential clinical application of DKI for the exploration of microstructural patterns in PD, contributing complementary imaging features that offer insights into the neurodegenerative process.