Cortical thinning and altered directed connectivity in Parkinson’s disease: a cortical thickness–guided voxel-wise granger causality study
- 1Department of Radiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine
- 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine
- 3Department of Radiology, Guangshui First People’s Hospital
Abstract
Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) involves both regional cortical degeneration and large-scale network dysfunction. This study examined whether cortical regions showing structural abnormalities in PD also exhibit altered directed connectivity.
Methods: Sixty-two patients with PD and 46 healthy controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain cortical thickness was analyzed using FreeSurfer. Regions showing significant cortical thinning were used as seeds for voxel-wise Granger causality analysis (GCA). Associations between imaging measures and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were examined using partial correlation analyses.
Results: Patients with PD showed significantly reduced cortical thickness in the right medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed.R) and right precentral gyrus (PreCG.R), with no regions showing significantly greater cortical thickness than healthy controls. Compared with controls, patients with PD exhibited increased GCA from SFGmed.R to the left inferior temporal gyrus and from PreCG.R to the calcarine/medial visual cortex, whereas decreased GCA was observed from PreCG.R to the left supramarginal gyrus and from the right superior temporal gyrus and left olfactory-related region to PreCG.R. SFGmed.R cortical thickness was positively associated with MoCA scores after adjustment for age, sex, and education level, and this association remained significant after Bonferroni correction for seven exploratory correlation analyses (partial Spearman’s ρ = 0.847, p < 0.001). No other imaging–MoCA associations reached the corrected significance threshold.
Conclusion: Cortical thinning in frontal-executive and motor regions of patients with PD is accompanied by altered directed interactions with distributed sensory and associative regions. Medial superior frontal cortical thickness may also be related to global cognitive performance.
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BibTeX
@article{cheng2026cortical,
title = {{Cortical thinning and altered directed connectivity in Parkinson’s disease: a cortical thickness–guided voxel-wise granger causality study}},
author = {Dan Cheng and Yuxi Wang and Chengcheng Liu and Xiu Cheng and Miao Wang and Yaxin Tuo and Wen Chen and Dehong Wu},
journal = {Frontiers in Neurology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fneur.2026.1967317},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1967317/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Cortical thinning and altered directed connectivity in Parkinson’s disease: a cortical thickness–guided voxel-wise granger causality study
AU - Dan Cheng
AU - Yuxi Wang
AU - Chengcheng Liu
AU - Xiu Cheng
AU - Miao Wang
AU - Yaxin Tuo
AU - Wen Chen
AU - Dehong Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Frontiers in Neurology
DO - 10.3389/fneur.2026.1967317
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1967317/full
AB - Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) involves both regional cortical degeneration and large-scale network dysfunction. This study examined whether cortical regions showing structural abnormalities in PD also exhibit altered directed connectivity. Methods: Sixty-two patients with PD and 46 healthy controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain cortical thickness was analyzed using FreeSurfer. Regions showing significant cortical thinning were used as seeds for voxel-wise Granger causality analysis (GCA). Associations between imaging measures and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were examined using partial correlation analyses. Results: Patients with PD showed significantly reduced cortical thickness in the right medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed.R) and right precentral gyrus (PreCG.R), with no regions showing significantly greater cortical thickness than healthy controls. Compared with controls, patients with PD exhibited increased GCA from SFGmed.R to the left inferior temporal gyrus and from PreCG.R to the calcarine/medial visual cortex, whereas decreased GCA was observed from PreCG.R to the left supramarginal gyrus and from the right superior temporal gyrus and left olfactory-related region to PreCG.R. SFGmed.R cortical thickness was positively associated with MoCA scores after adjustment for age, sex, and education level, and this association remained significant after Bonferroni correction for seven exploratory correlation analyses (partial Spearman’s ρ = 0.847, p < 0.001). No other imaging–MoCA associations reached the corrected significance threshold. Conclusion: Cortical thinning in frontal-executive and motor regions of patients with PD is accompanied by altered directed interactions with distributed sensory and associative regions. Medial superior frontal cortical thickness may also be related to global cognitive performance.
SN - 1664-2295
ER -