Neuroanatomical findings in isolated REM sleep behavior disorder and early Parkinson’s disease: a Voxel-based morphometry study

Isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is a parasomnia characterized by loss of physiological atonia of skeletal muscles with abnormal behaviors arising during REM sleep. RBD is often the early manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly alpha-synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Both structural and functional neuroimaging studies suggest that iRBD might share, or even precede, some of the features commonly found in PD, although without a definitive conclusion. Aim of the study is to evaluate the presence of structural abnormalities involving cortical and subcortical areas in PD patients with RBD and iRBD. Patients with video-polysomnographic (VPSG)-confirmed iRBD, and patients with a diagnosis of PD were recruited. In all PD patients, the presence of probable RBD was assessed during the follow-up visits (PD/pRBD). A group of healthy controls (HC) subjects was also recruited. Each subject underwent a structural brain MRI using a 3-D T1-weighted spoiled gradient echo sequence. Twenty-three patients with iRBD, 24 PD/pRBD, and 26 HC were enrolled. Voxel-based morphometry-AnCOVA analysis revealed clusters of grey matter changes in iRBD and PD/pRBD compared to HC in several regions, involving mainly the frontal and temporal regions. The involvement of cortical brain structures associated to the control of sleep cycle and REM stage both in PD/pRBD and iRBD might suggest the presence of a common structural platform linking iRBD and PD, although this pattern may not underlie exclusively RBD-related features. Further longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the patterns of changes occurring at different time points of RBD-related neurodegeneration.