MRI Identifies Parkinson’s in Patients at Risk of Dementia

According to new research out of Canada, it may now be possible to identify which first-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who will go on to develop dementia.

The study was conducted at the Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal (Montreal, QC, Canada) by Dr. Oury Monchi, PhD, and his postdoctoral student, Dr. Alexandru Hanganu, MD, PhD, both of whom are affiliated with Universite de Montreal. Their findings were published in the February 2014 issue of the journal Brain.

Although PD is typically tied to motor difficulties such as trembling or rigidity or trembling, individuals with this disease basically have a six times greater chance of developing dementia compared to the rest of the population. In this first longitudinal study in this field, 32 patients in the first stages of PD were followed for 20 months. Some of the patients had mild cognitive deficiencies while others did not. A control group of 18 healthy people were also monitored.

“Using magnetic resonance imaging [MRI], we found thinning in certain cortical areas as well as subcortical atrophy in the grey matter of subjects with mild cognitive impairments. Thanks to our longitudinal approach, we were able to observe that this thinning speeds up in conjunction with the increase in cognitive problems,” explained Dr. Monchi. This specific brain deterioration combined with the early presence of mild cognitive impairments could serve as markers for the development of dementia.

Dr. Monchi stressed the significance of these findings. “This study opens the door to further research, for example, on medication or on nonpharmacological approaches such as transcranial magnetic stimulation. It’s important for these patients to be identified very quickly before they develop dementia so that a therapeutic approach can be adapted to their specific needs.”

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Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal