Modulatory effect of levodopa on the basal ganglia-cerebellum connectivity in Parkinson’s disease
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Yun, Juyoung
Abulikemu, Subati
Jangwanich, Love
Tai, Yen Foung
Haar, Shlomi
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Long-term levodopa use in Parkinson’s disease is associated with declining efficacy and motor complications. Understanding its effects on brain reorganisation is vital for optimizing therapy. Using data from Parkinson’s Progression Marker Initiative, we investigated levodopa’s impact on resting-state functional connectivity within the cortico-basal ganglia-cerebellum system in 29 patients, under drug-naïve and levodopa-medicated conditions. Univariate comparisons of inter-regional connectivity between conditions were conducted, and multivariate combinations of connections within and between networks were assessed. No significant effect of levodopa was found using the univariate seed-based approach. However, the network connectivity pattern between basal ganglia and cerebellum showed robust classification power. Eigenvector Centrality Mapping (ECM) further identified functional hubs, with cerebellar hubs being the only ones within the cortico-basal ganglia-cerebellum system affected by medication. Our study provides further insight into the importance of inter-network functional connectivity in Parkinson’s and the impact of levodopa medication, highlighting the often-overlooked role of the cerebellum.
Date Issued
2025-05-06
Date Acceptance
2025-04-08
Citation
npj Parkinson's Disease, 2025, 11
ISSN
2373-8057
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
npj Parkinson's Disease
Volume
11
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1038/s41531-025-00954-9
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
115
Date Publish Online
2025-05-06