Top

Published in:

Open Access 01-01-2012 | Original Communication

The pedunculopontine nucleus is related to visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease: preliminary results of a voxel-based morphometry study

Authors: J. Janzen, D. van ‘t Ent, A. W. Lemstra, H. W. Berendse, F. Barkhof, E. M. J. Foncke

Published in: Journal of Neurology | Issue 1/2012

Abstract

Visual hallucinations (VH) are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and lead to a poor quality of life. For a long time, dopaminergic therapy was considered to be the most important risk factor for the development of VH in PD. Recently, the cholinergic system, including the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), has been implicated in the pathophysiology of VH. The aim of the present study was to investigate grey matter density of the PPN region and one of its projection areas, the thalamus. Thirteen non-demented PD patients with VH were compared to 16 non-demented PD patients without VH, 13 demented PD patients (PDD) with VH and 11 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Isotropic 3-D T1-weighted MRI images (3T) were analysed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) with the PPN region and thalamus as ROIs. PD and PDD patients with VH showed grey matter reductions of the PPN region and the thalamus compared to PD patients without VH. VH in PD(D) patients are associated with atrophy of the PPN region and its thalamic target area, suggesting that a cholinergic deficit may be involved in the development of VH in PD(D).

Fénelon G, Mahieux F, Houn R et al (2000) Hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease: prevalence, phenomenology and risk factors. Brain 123(Pt 4):733–745PubMedCrossRef

Diederich N, Fenelon G, Stebbins G et al (2009) Hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease. Nat Rev Neurol 5:331–342PubMedCrossRef

Aarsland D, Larsen JP, Tandbert E (2000) Predictors of nursing home placement in PD: a population-based prospective study. J Am Geriatr Soc 48:938–942PubMed

Hely MA, Reid WG, Adena MA et al (2008) The Sydney Multicenter study of Parkinson’s Disease: the inevitability of dementia at 20 years. Mov Disord 23:837–844PubMedCrossRef

Weisman D, McKeith I (2007) Dementia with Lewy bodies. Semin Neurol 27(1):42–47PubMedCrossRef

Onofrj M et al (2006) Visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s Disease: clues to separate origins. J Neurol Sci 248:143–150PubMedCrossRef

Zahodne LB, Fernandez H (2008) Pathophysiology and treatment of psychosis in Parkinson’s disease. A review. Drugs Aging 25(8):665–682PubMedCrossRef

Perry EK, Perry EH (1995) Acetylcholine and hallucinations: disease-related compared to drug-induced alterations in human consciousness. Brain Cogn 28:240–258PubMedCrossRef

Perry EK, Irving D, Kerwin JM et al (1993) Cholinergic transmitter and neurotrophic activities in Lewy Body Dementia: similarity to Parkinson’s and distinction from Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 7:69–79PubMedCrossRef

10.

Benke T (2006) Peduncular hallucinosis: a syndrome of impaired reality monitoring. J Neurol 253(12):1561–1571PubMedCrossRef

11.

Pahapill PA, Lozano AM (2000) The pedunculopontine nucleus and Parkinson’s disease. Brain 123(Pt 9):1767–1783PubMedCrossRef

12.

Boeve BF, Silber MH, Saper CB et al (2007) Pathophysiology of REM sleep behaviour disorder and relevance to neurodegenerative disease. Brain 130:2770–2788PubMedCrossRef

13.

Sinforiani E, Pacchetti C, Zangaglia R, Pasotti C, Manni R, Nappi G (2008) REM behavior disorder, hallucinations and cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease: a two-year follow up. Mov Disord 23(10):1441–1445PubMedCrossRef

14.

Yamamoto R, Iseki E, Murayama N et al (2006) Investigation of Lewy pathology in the visual pathway of brains of dementia with Lewy bodies. J Neurol Sci 246:95–101PubMedCrossRef

15.

Ramírez-Ruiz B, Martí MJ, Tolosa E et al (2007) Cerebral atrophy in PD with visual hallucinations. Eur J Neurol 14(7):750–756PubMedCrossRef

16.

Ibarretxe-Bilbao N, Ramírez-Ruiz B, Junqué C et al (2010) Differential progression of brain atrophy in PD with and without visual hallucinations. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 81(6):650–657PubMedCrossRef

17.

Sánchez-Castañeda C, Reñé R, Ramírez-Ruiz B et al (2010) Frontal and associative visual areas related to visual hallucinations in dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease with dementia. Mov Disord 25(5):615–622PubMedCrossRef

18.

Nagano-Saito A, Washimi Y, Arahata Y et al (2004) Visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease with FDG PET. Mov Disord 19:801–806PubMedCrossRef

19.

Stebbins GT, Goetz CG, Carrillo MC et al (2004) Altered cortical visual processing in PD with hallucinations. An fMRI study. Neurology 63:1409–1416PubMed

20.

Daniel SE, Lees AJ (1993) Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank, London: overview and research. J Neural Transm Suppl 39:165–172PubMed

21.

Emre M, Aarsland D, Brown R et al (2007) Clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 22(12):1689–1707PubMedCrossRef

22.

McKeith IG, Dickson DW, Lowe J et al (2005) Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: third report of the DLB consortium. Neurology 65(12):1863–1872PubMedCrossRef

23.

Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) “Mini-mental state”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12:189–198PubMedCrossRef

24.

Fahn S, Elton RL (1987) Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. In: Fahn S, Marsden CD, Calne D, Goldstein M (eds) Recent developments in Parkinson’s disease. Macmillan Health Care Information, Florham Park, pp 153–163

25.

Hoehn MM, Yahr MD (1967) Parkinsonism: onset, progression and mortality. Neurology 17(5):427–442PubMed

26.

Visser M, Verbaan D, van Rooden SM et al (2007) Assessment of psychiatric complications in Parkinson’s disease: The SCOPA-PC. Mov Disord 22(15):2221–2228PubMedCrossRef

27.

Stoffers D, Bosboom JL, Deijen JB et al (2007) Slowing of oscillatory brain activity is a stable characteristic of Parkinson’s disease without dementia. Brian 130(Pt 7):1847–1860CrossRef

28.

Ashburner J (2007) A fast diffeomorphic image registration algorithm. Neuroimage 38(1):95–113PubMedCrossRef

29.

Maldjian JA, Laurienti PJ, Kraft RA, Burdette JH (2000) An automated method for neuroanatomic and cytoarchitectonic atlas-based interrogation of fMRI data sets. Neuroimage 19(3):1233–1239CrossRef

30.

Zrinzo L, Zrinzo LV, Tisch S et al (2008) Stereotactic localization of the human pedunculopontine nucleus: atlas-based coordinates and validation of a magnetic resonance imaging protocol for direct localization. Brain 131:1588–1598PubMedCrossRef

31.

Collerton D, Perry E, McKeith I (2005) Why people see things that are not there: a novel perception and attention deficit model for recurrent complex visual hallucinations. Behav Brain Sci 28:737–757PubMed

32.

Meppelink AM, de Jong BM, Teune LK et al (2011) Regional cortical grey matter loss in Parkinson’s disease without dementia is independent from visual hallucinations. Mov Disord 26:142–147. doi:10.1002/mds.23375

33.

Papapetropoulos S, McCorquodale DS, Gonzalez J et al (2006) Cortical and amydalar Lewy Body burden in Parkinson’s disease patients with visual hallucinations. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 12:253–256PubMedCrossRef

34.

Harding AJ, Broe GA, Halliday GM (2002) Visual hallucinations in Lewy body disease relate to Lewy bodies in the temporal lobe. Brain 125:391–403PubMedCrossRef

35.

Levey AI, Hallanger AE, Wainer BH (1987) Cholinergic nucleus basalis neurons may influence the cortex via the thalamus. Neurosci Lett 74:7–13PubMedCrossRef

36.

Lippa CF, Smith TW, Perry E (1999) Dementia with Lewy bodies: choline acetyltransferase parallels nucleus basalis pathology. J Neural Transm 106:252–535CrossRef

37.

Schmeichel AM, Buchhalter LC, Low PA et al (2008) Mesopontine cholinergic neuron involvement in Lewy Body dementia and multiple system atrophy. Neurology 70:368–373PubMedCrossRef

38.

Perry E, Walker M, Grace J et al (1999) Acetylcholine in mind: a neurotransmitter correlate of consciousness? Trends Neurosci 22:273–280PubMedCrossRef

Title: The pedunculopontine nucleus is related to visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease: preliminary results of a voxel-based morphometry study
Authors: J. Janzen
D. van ‘t Ent
A. W. Lemstra
H. W. Berendse
F. Barkhof
E. M. J. Foncke
Publication date: 01-01-2012
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Journal of Neurology / Issue 1/2012
Print ISSN: 0340-5354
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1459
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-011-6149-z

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

The pedunculopontine nucleus is related to visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease: preliminary results of a voxel-based morphometry study

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2012

Successful subthalamic stimulation in genetic Parkinson’s disease caused by duplication of the α-synuclein gene

Diurnal and nocturnal drooling in Parkinson’s disease

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) complicated by respiratory failure: successful treatment with rituximab

Dramatic response to zonisamide of post-subarachnoid hemorrhage Holmes’ tremor

Psychiatric symptoms screening in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy following ischemic stroke: a cause of troponin elevation