A Study On The Abnormal Functional Connectivity Of Substantia Nigra In Parkinson's Disease With Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder

ObjectTo investigate the functional connectivity of left and right substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease(PD)patients with and without rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder(RBD)using functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI).MethodsAccording to the inclusion criteria,39 PD patients were enrolled in the Department of Neurology,Zhengzhou University People's Hospital from 2016 to 2018.The patients were divided into PD without RBD group(PD-nRBD group,20 cases)and PD with RBD group(PD-RBD group,19 cases).Healthy volunteers were recruited in the same period and divided into normal control group(NC group).Three groups underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance scanning and the results were compared.The brain regions with cluster > 30 were selected and recorded.ResultsCompared with the NC group,the PD-NRBD group had decreased functional connectivity between the right substantia nigra and the left and right posterior cingulate gyrus,and left and right precuneus;compared with the NC group,the PD-RBD group had decreased functional connectivity between the left substantia nigra and the left thalamus,left and right precuneus,and between the right substantia nigra and the left postcentral gyrus,left and right precuneus,left cerebellum,and right posterior cingulate gyrus;compared with the PD-NRBD group,the PD-RBD group had increased functional connectivity between the left substantia nigra and the left and right cerebellum,and left and right precuneus,left and right cingulate gyrus,and left postcentral gyrus.ConclusionThe function of the default mode network is impaired in PD,and the default mode network and sensorimotor related brain regions are more severely damaged in RBD,which also suggests a possible role of the substantia nigra in the development of RBD/PD into PD with RBD..