PURPOSE Although numerous clinical neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that there are functional abnormalities of motor-related regions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), little studies have explored the causal interactions within these motor-related regions. The present study aimed to examine Granger causality connectivity patterns within motor-related regions in PD patients. METHODS Resting-state fMRI was conducted to investigate the causal connectivity differences within motor-related regions between 17 PD patients and 17 matched healthy controls. Subsequently, the relationship between the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores and causal connectivity values within motor-related regions was examined in PD patients. RESULTS An increased causal connectivity from the left premotor cortex (PMC) to right primary motor cortex (M1) was found in PD patients compared with that of healthy controls. Also, increased causal flow from the PMC to M1 was negatively correlated with motor scores. CONCLUSION PD patients have abnormal causal connectivity in specific motor-related regions, which may reflect a compensatory role of motor deficits in PD patients.

中文翻译：

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帕金森氏病患者运动相关区域内Granger因果关系的改变：一项静止状态fMRI研究。

目的尽管许多临床神经影像学研究表明，通过静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI），帕金森氏病（PD）患者的运动相关区域存在功能异常，但很少有研究探讨这些运动相关区域之间的因果关系地区。本研究旨在检查PD患者运动相关区域内的格兰杰因果关系模式。方法进行静息状态功能磁共振成像研究17例PD患者和17例健康对照者运动相关区域内的因果关系差异。随后，在帕金森病患者中检查了帕金森病综合评分量表评分与运动相关区域内因果联系值之间的关系。结果与健康对照组相比，PD患者发现左前运动皮质（PMC）与右原运动皮质（M1）之间的因果关系增加。同样，从PMC到M1的因果流量增加与运动成绩负相关。结论PD患者在特定的运动相关区域具有异常的因果联系，这可能反映了PD患者运动缺陷的补偿作用。