Approved Research

Individual treatment of noninvasive brain stimulation in Parkinsonian Syndromes

Lay summary

Parkinsonian Syndromes (PDS) is a class of clinical syndromes based on three major motor manifestations: bradykinesia, resting tremor, and rigidity. Parkinson's disease (PD) is often difficult to distinguish from atypical parkinsonian syndromes (APS) due to overlapping symptoms at the early stage of the disease. APS with predominant motor dysfunction include progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Rapid progression, lack of effective treatments, as well as high disability and mortality rates causing considerable burden to family and society.

With the progress of neuroimaging research, it's found that the structural and functional alterations in specific neural circuits were associated with the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. Human brain is connected to generate cognitive functions such as memory, orientation or attention. Physical intervention methods targeting specific brain regions have shown considerable effect on improving symptoms (eg, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for depression, primary motor cortex for stoke). Degenerative changes in the substantia nigra and other brain structures disrupt these large-scale brain networks, thus impeding normal brain function. The underlying mechanisms are poorly understood in APS.

The aim of this study is to figure out treatment targets for Parkinsonian Syndromes (PDS) based on brain imaging and fundamental medical record features. We will investigate which elements of the brain network are most vulnerable and its consistence of clinical manifestations in different symptoms or disease for guiding the target of noninvasive brain stimulation. Given the lack of diagnostic biomarkers, the analysis will take known neurobiomarkers into account.

We plan to conduct this project over a period of three years. By characterizing brain networks affected, our work will benefit public health by providing novel biomarkers for diagnosis and targets treatment for PDS. This will lead to a better understanding and improved the early detection of different disease presenting PDS. Exploring non-pharmacologic therapy provides new ideas for PDS treatment and is essential for the improvement of patients' quality of life.

Scope extension:

This project has a broad scope considering the neuroimages can be used in multiple studies. The neuroimages can be utilized to explore the associations between imaging metrics and clinical variables. In addition, the neuroimages can also be used to investigate how the genetics or biochemical variables affect neuroimaging metrics and behavioral performance or clinical symptoms of diseases.