What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to explore the relationship between attentional and visuospatial deficits and their underlying neural mechanisms in Parkinson's disease.

March 1, 2026Open Access

Altered attention and visuospatial abnormalities in Parkinson's disease: links to attention networks and basal ganglia

Puntos clave

The study aims to explore the relationship between attentional and visuospatial deficits and their underlying neural mechanisms in Parkinson's disease.
Examined 62 Parkinson's disease patients and 53 healthy controls using resting state functional MRI.
Analyzed functional connectivity and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation data.
Conducted partial correlation and mediation analyses to evaluate cognitive function relationships.
Developed a support vector machine classifier to validate attention network features.
Increased ALFF in the right caudate nucleus and left insular cortex in Parkinson's disease patients compared to controls.
Decreased functional connectivity in several areas including the right caudate nucleus and left insular cortex.
Mediation analysis showed insular cortex activity is linked to cognitive performance.
Support vector machine classifier achieved 92.2% accuracy for diagnostic purposes.
Subgroup differences indicated further changes in the triangular inferior frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus related to cognitive decline.

Resumen

Background Attentional and visuospatial deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD) are linked to disrupted attention networks (AN), yet specific neural mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between these dysfunctions and aberrant AN circuits in PD. Methods Sixty-two PD patients stratified by cognitive status cognitively normal (PDCN), mild cognitive impairment (PDMCI), and dementia (PDD) and 53 matched healthy controls (HC) underwent resting state functional MRI. We performed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses. Relationships with cognitive functions were evaluated via partial correlation and mediation models. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier incorporating AN features was established for diagnostic validation. Results Compared to HCs, PD patients showed increased ALFF in the right caudate nucleus (CAU) and left insular cortex (Ins), but reduced ALFF in the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG). FC analysis revealed decreased coupling in the right CAU-left cerebellum VI (CVI), left Ins-left middle cingulate gyrus (MCG), and left Ins-right superior temporal gyrus (STG), alongside enhanced left MOG-left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) connectivity. These alterations correlated significantly with cognitive performance. Mediation analysis identified left Ins ALFF and left Ins-left MCG FC as independent mediators of impairments. The SVM classifier achieved 92.2% accuracy (AUC = 0.944). Subgroup comparisons revealed increased ALFF in the left triangular inferior frontal gyrus (IFGtri) and angular gyrus (AG) in PDMCI vs. PDCN. PDD patients displayed decreased left supramarginal gyrus (SMG) ALFF compared to PDCN. Notably, left SMG-related alterations distinguished PDMCI from PDD and correlated with attention deficits. Conclusion PD-related attention and visuospatial dysfunctions are closely linked to AN abnormalities. The Ins serves as a key regulatory node, while the SMG emerges as a potential neuroimaging marker for tracking cognitive decline from PDMCI to PDD.

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Cite This Study

Song et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69a3d747ec16d51705d2db9c https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2026.1754795

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