Cerebellar atrophy and cerebellum-cerebral circuits associated with freezing of gait in patients with multiple system atrophy

Motivation: The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of cerebellum in gait freezing pathophysiology in multiple system atrophy. Goal(s): Obtain neuroimaging evidence for clinical understanding of cerebellum role in MSA patients with FOG injury. Approach: A SUIT method was used to obtain cerebellum subregion gray matter alterations. In addition, seed-based FC was used to evaluate abnormal cerebello-cortical circuits. Spearman’s correlation analysis was used to evaluate cerebellum structural changes, cerebello-cortical circuit abnormality, and freezing severity. Results: MSA-FOG patients showed an abnormal cerebellum atrophy in subregion VI and VIII,Cerebellar-cortical “executive-control” and “visual-auditory” networks are associated with FOG in MSA. Impact: This study provided neuroimaging evidence for clinical understanding of cerebellum role in MSA patients with FOG injury