Structural connectivity differences in motor network between tremor‐dominant and nontremor Parkinson's disease

Motor phenotypes of Parkinson's disease (PD) are recognized to have different prognosis and therapeutic response, but the neural basis for this clinical heterogeneity remains largely unknown. The main aim of this study was to compare differences in structural connectivity metrics of the main motor network between tremor‐dominant and nontremor PD phenotypes (TD‐PD and NT‐PD, respectively) using probabilistic tractography‐based network analysis. A total of 63 PD patients (35 TD‐PD patients and 28 NT‐PD patients) and 30 healthy controls underwent a 3 T MRI. Next, probabilistic tractography‐based network analysis was performed to assess structural connectivity in cerebello‐thalamo‐basal ganglia‐cortical circuits, by measuring the connectivity indices of each tract and the efficiency of each node. Furthermore, dopamine transporter single‐photon emission computed tomography (DAT‐SPECT) with 123I‐ioflupane was used to assess dopaminergic striatal depletion in all PD patients. Both PD phenotypes showed nodal abnormalities in the substantia nigra, in agreement with DAT‐SPECT evaluation. In addition, NT‐PD patients displayed connectivity alterations in nigro‐pallidal and fronto‐striatal pathways, compared with both controls and TD‐PD patients, in which the same motor connections seemed to be relatively spared. Of note, in NT‐PD group, rigidity‐bradykinesia score correlated with fronto‐striatal connectivity abnormalities. These findings demonstrate that structural connectivity alterations occur in the cortico‐basal ganglia circuit of NT‐PD patients, but not in TD‐PD patients, suggesting that these anatomical differences may underlie different motor phenotypes of PD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4716–4729, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.