Levodopa therapy affects brain functional network dynamics in Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 2025-01, Vol.136, p.111169, Article 111169
• Main Authors: Liu, Xiaojin, Zhang, Yuze, Weng, Yihe, Zhong, Miao, Wang, Lijuan, Gao, Zhenni, Hu, Huiqing, Zhang, Yuhu, Huang, Biao, Huang, Ruiwang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dynamic functional connectivity; Functional network topology; L-dopa therapy; Resting-state fMRI
• ISSN: 0278-5846; 1878-4216; 1878-4216
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.111169

Levodopa (L-dopa) therapy is the most effective pharmacological treatment for motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, its effect on brain functional network dynamics is still unclear. Here, we recruited 26 PD patients and 24 healthy controls, and acquired their resting-state functional MRI data before (PD-OFF) and after (PD-ON) receiving 400 mg L-dopa. Using the independent component analysis and the sliding-window approach, we estimated the dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) and examined the effect of L-dopa on the temporal properties of dFC states, the variability of dFC and functional network topological organization. We found that PD-ON showed decreased mean dwell time in sparsely connected State 2 than PD-OFF, the transformation of the dFC state is more frequent and the variability of dFC was decreased within the auditory network and sensorimotor network in PD-ON. Our findings provide new insights to understand the dynamic neural activity induced by L-dopa therapy in PD patients. •PD patients decreased mean dwell time in the sparsely connected dFC state after L-dopa therapy.•The dFC state of PD patients transformed into the other state more frequently after L-dopa therapy.•Var(dFC) in AUN and SMN was decreased for PD patients after L-dopa therapy.•Var(dFC) in VN was increased for PD patients after L-dopa therapy.•The altered dFC in AUN was positively correlated with δUPDRS-III.