Acute Modulation of Brain Connectivity in Parkinson Disease after Automatic Mechanical Peripheral Stimulation: A Pilot Study

作者：Quattrocchi Carlo Cosimo^*; de Pandis Maria Francesca; Piervincenzi Claudia; Galli Manuela; Melgari Jean Marc; Salomone Gaetano; Sale Patrizio; Mallio Carlo Augusto; Carducci Filippo; Stocchi Fabrizio

来源：PLos One, 2015, 10(10): e0137977.

DOI：10.1371/journal.pone.0137977

Objective
The present study shows the results of a double-blind sham-controlled pilot trial to test whether measurable stimulus-specific functional connectivity changes exist after Automatic Mechanical Peripheral Stimulation (AMPS) in patients with idiopathic Parkinson Disease.
Methods
Eleven patients (6 women and 5 men) with idiopathic Parkinson Disease underwent brain fMRI immediately before and after sham or effective AMPS. Resting state Functional Connectivity (RSFC) was assessed using the seed-ROI based analysis. Seed ROIs were positioned on basal ganglia, on primary sensory-motor cortices, on the supplementary motor areas and on the cerebellum. Individual differences for pre- and post-effective AMPS and pre-and post-sham condition were obtained and first entered in respective one-sample t-test analyses, to evaluate the mean effect of condition.
Results
Effective AMPS, but not sham stimulation, induced increase of RSFC of the sensory motor cortex, nucleus striatum and cerebellum. Secondly, individual differences for both conditions were entered into paired group t-test analysis to rule out sub-threshold effects of sham stimulation, which showed stronger connectivity of the striatum nucleus with the right lateral occipital cortex and the cuneal cortex (max Z score 3.12) and with the right anterior temporal lobe (max Z score 3.42) and of the cerebellum with the right lateral occipital cortex and the right cerebellar cortex (max Z score 3.79).
Conclusions
Our results suggest that effective AMPS acutely increases RSFC of brain regions involved in visuo-spatial and sensory-motor integration.

• 出版日期2015-10-15