Functional Reorganization of Corticostriatal Connectivity Across the Degree of Nigrostriatal Degeneration in Parkinson Disease

In summary, our study demonstrated that the FC between the posterior caudate and primary motor cortex was elevated from the prodromal to early stages of PD, a period in which motor symptom progression remained relatively slow. The FC between the posterior putamen and motor cortex remained unchanged, while its connectivity with the posterior cortical regions declined from the onset of motor symptoms, coinciding with the accelerated progression of motor deterioration. Collectively, our study demonstrated that corticostriatal connectivity undergoes functional reorganization across the different stages of PD, which is associated with motor symptoms.