Low-frequency MEG activity and MRI evaluation in Parkinson's disease

Background: Low - frequency activity has been reported in Parkinson disease (PD). We investigated the magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings from PD patients and healthy volunteers in the frequency, domain. Methods: The MEG recordings were carried out in a magnetically shielded room with a whole-head 122-channel gradiometer. Nine patients suffering from PD and 9 age and gender matched healthy subjects were included in the study. MRI with T1-w and T2-w images, was available in patients' records. Results: Frequency ana lysis may be usefully combined in the analysis of data sets, which contain oscillatory components. Prominent low frequencies can be seen in the spectrum obtained from the PD patients whereas in the control group the frequency range was 6Hz in the majority of channels. MRI did not disclose specific findings in any case. Conclusions: It is suggested that the MEG could be a complementary method in the diagnostic evaluation of PD using spatial distribution of the raw data in the frequency domain.