Abstract Background In recent years, neuroimaging has emerged as a pivotal tool for investigating neurological and psychiatric disorders. Although numerous studies have demonstrated the diagnostic value of imaging in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), there remains a scarcity of comprehensive review articles that consolidate this expanding field. This study aims to address that gap by employing bibliometric analysis to outline current research trends and predict future directions. Methods A total of 4 794 publications issued. between 2015 and 2024 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. Using CiteSpace, we conducted quantitative analyses of publications, authors, institutions, journals, countries, keywords, citations, and references. The results were visualized via network maps. Results The analysis included 4 794 publications contributed by 631 authors from 430 institutions across 81 countries. China and the United States were the most productive countries, followed by Germany. University College London was the most prolific institution and served as a key hub in inter-institutional collaborations. Phil Hyu Lee was identified as the leading author, and Movement Disorders was the most influential journal, while Parkinsonism & Related Disorders published the highest number of articles within the dataset. Conclusion Current research is increasingly focused on leveraging imaging techniques to detect early pathological changes in PD, such as dopaminergic neuron loss, abnormal protein deposition, and altered brain connectivity. These efforts aim to identify accurate diagnostic biomarkers and elucidate underlying disease mechanisms. This bibliometric analysis offers a comprehensive overview of the applications of neuroimaging in PD research over the past decade and may help inform future studies and foster international collaborations efforts.
Lan et al. (2026) studied this question.