AUTHOR=Zhihui Sun , Yinghua Li , Hongguang Zhao , Yuyin Dai , Xiaoxiao Du , Lulu Gao , Yi Li , Kangli Fan , Ying Zhang 

TITLE=Correlation analysis between 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and cognitive function in first diagnosed Parkinson’s disease patients

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1195576

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2023.1195576

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Objective: To explore the correlation between 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography (18F-FDG PET) and cognitive function in first diagnosed and untreated Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.
Materials and Method: his cross-sectional study included 84 first diagnosed and untreated PD patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET scans and clinical feature assessments including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale. Glucose metabolism rates were measured in 26 brain regions using region of interest (ROI) and pixel-wise analyses with Z scores displayed. Cognitive function was assessed by professionals using the MoCA scale, which covers five cognitive domains. Spearman's linear correlation and linear regression models were used to compare the correlations between 18F-FDG metabolism in each brain region and each cognitive domain, using SPSS 25.0 software.
Result: The results indicate that there is a positive correlation between executive function and glucose metabolism in the lateral prefrontal cortex of the left hemisphere (p=0.041), as well as a positive correlation between memory function and glucose metabolism in the right precuneus(p=0.014), right lateral occipital cortex (p=0.017), right primary visual cortex (p=0.031), left primary visual cortex (p=0.008), and right medial temporal cortex (p=0.046). Further regression analysis showed that for every one point decrease in memory score, the glucose metabolism in the right precuneus would decrease by 0.3 (B=0.30, p=0.005), the glucose metabolism in the left primary visual cortex would decrease by 0.25 (B=0.25, p=0.040), and the glucose metabolism in the right lateral occipital cortex would decrease by 0.38 (B=0.38, p=0.012).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that cognitive impairment in PD patients mainly manifests as changes in executive function, visual spital function and memory functions, while glucose metabolism mainly decreases in the frontal and posterior cortex. Further analysis shows that executive function is related to glucose metabolism in the left lateral prefrontal cortex, while memory ability involves glucose metabolism changes in a more extensive brain region. This suggests that cognitive function assessment can indirectly reflect the level of glucose metabolism in the relevant brain regions.