정석종 교수

BACKGROUND: The choroid plexus (CP) is involved in the clearance of harmful metabolites from the brain, as a part of the glymphatic system. This study aimed to investigate the association between CP volume (CPV), nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration and motor outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: We retrospectively searched drug-naïve patients with early-stage PD who underwent dopamine transporter (DAT) scanning and MRI. Automatic CP segmentation was performed, and the CPV was calcul

BACKGROUND: The severity of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) does not always correlate with the degree of nigral dopaminergic neuronal loss. Individuals with greater motor reserve may have milder motor signs than their striatal dopamine loss. In this study, we explored the functional brain network associated with motor reserve in early-stage PD. METHODS: We analyzed 134 patients with de novo PD who underwent dopamine transporter scans and resting-state functional magnetic resonance ima

This study suggests that baseline enlarged BG-PVS can be an indicator of the progression of motor disability in PD.

This study aimed to investigate the cortical neural correlates of dementia conversion in Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). We classified 112 patients with drug-naïve early stage PD meeting criteria for PD-MCI into either PD with dementia (PDD) converters (n = 34) or nonconverters (n = 78), depending on whether they developed dementia within 4 years of PD diagnosis. Cortical thickness analyses were performed in 34 PDD converters and 34 matched nonconverters. Additionall

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The choroid plexus (CP) clears harmful metabolites from the central nervous system as part of the glymphatic system. We investigated the association of CP volume (CPV) with baseline and longitudinal cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 240 patients with newly diagnosed PD who had undergone detailed neuropsychological tests and high-resolution T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the patterns of striatal dopamine depletion on dopamine transporter (DAT) scans could provide information on the long-term prognosis in Parkinson disease (PD). METHODS: F-FP-CIT PET scans at initial assessment and received PD medications for 3 or more years. After quantifying the DAT availability in each striatal subregion, factor analysis was conducted to simplify the identification of striatal dopamine depletion patterns and to yield 4 striatal subregion facto

The concept of cognitive reserve (CR) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) explains the differences between individuals in their susceptibility to AD-related pathologies. An enhanced CR may lead to less cognitive deficits despite severe pathological lesions. Parkinson's disease (PD) is also a common neurodegenerative disease and is mainly characterized by motor dysfunction related to striatal dopaminergic depletion. The degree of motor deficits in PD is closely correlated to the degree of dopamine deplet

These findings suggest that these factor analysis-derived cognitive profiles can be used to predict dementia conversion in early-stage PD. In addition, frontal/executive dysfunction contributes most to the occurrence of dementia in PD.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To clarify whether subtyping of amnestic and non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is clinically relevant in Parkinson's disease (PD) by analyzing patterns of neuroimaging and longitudinal cognitive changes. METHODS: We performed comparative analyses of cortical thickness, hippocampal volume, white matter integrity and resting-state functional connectivity between the patients with de-novo PD with amnestic MCI (PD-aMCI) (n = 50) and non-amnestic MCI (PD-naMCI) (n =

PURPOSE: To investigate whether the patterns of striatal dopamine depletion could provide prognostic information on the clinical profiles of early-stage Parkinson disease (PD). METHODS: Approximately 634 patients with drug-naive PD who underwent F-FP-CIT PET scans were followed up for at least 2 years. After quantifying dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in each striatal subregion, the patterns of striatal dopamine depletion of each patient were assessed based on (1) the degree of dopamine

BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities, prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), significantly affect parkinsonian motor symptoms. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and nigrostriatal dopamine depletion and their interaction or mediating effects on motor symptoms in patients with drug-naive early-stage PD. METHODS: F] N-(3-fluoropropyl)-2β-carbonethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane positron emission tomography and b