Neuronal network connectivity breakdown in basal ganglia and cerebellar disorders

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In basal ganglia and cerebellar disorders, it is critical to investigate 'network dysfunction' in order to understand pathophysiological mechanisms from neuronal cell degeneration to clinical symptoms. Since the subcortical nuclei have no direct motor output, the network dysfunction should results in disordered outputs from the motor cortex reflecting the clinical symptoms. We employed tractography and resting state functional magnetic imaging techniques to investigate intrinsic neuronal network connectivity among the subcortical nuclei. We found that dopamine depletion in Parkinson disease lead to network connectivity breakdown between the striatum and anterior thalamus. The present findings suggest that functional connectivity breakdown among those subcortical structures are related to clinical symptoms in Parkinson disease.