Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease

Abstract Visual hallucinations (VH) and pareidolia, a type of minor hallucination, share common underlying mechanisms. However, the similarities and differences in their brain regions remain poorly understood in Parkinson’s disease (PD). A total of 104 drug-naïve PD patients underwent structural MRI...

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Main Authors: Masakazu Ozawa, Tomotaka Shiraishi, Hidetomo Murakami, Daisuke Yoshimaru, Asako Onda, Hiromasa Matsuno, Teppei Komatsu, Kenichi Sakuta, Kenichiro Sakai, Tadashi Umehara, Hidetaka Mitsumura, Hirotaka James Okano, Yasuyuki Iguchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-12-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82707-x
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author Masakazu Ozawa
Tomotaka Shiraishi
Hidetomo Murakami
Daisuke Yoshimaru
Asako Onda
Hiromasa Matsuno
Teppei Komatsu
Kenichi Sakuta
Kenichiro Sakai
Tadashi Umehara
Hidetaka Mitsumura
Hirotaka James Okano
Yasuyuki Iguchi
author_facet Masakazu Ozawa
Tomotaka Shiraishi
Hidetomo Murakami
Daisuke Yoshimaru
Asako Onda
Hiromasa Matsuno
Teppei Komatsu
Kenichi Sakuta
Kenichiro Sakai
Tadashi Umehara
Hidetaka Mitsumura
Hirotaka James Okano
Yasuyuki Iguchi
author_sort Masakazu Ozawa
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Visual hallucinations (VH) and pareidolia, a type of minor hallucination, share common underlying mechanisms. However, the similarities and differences in their brain regions remain poorly understood in Parkinson’s disease (PD). A total of 104 drug-naïve PD patients underwent structural MRI and were assessed for pareidolia using the Noise Pareidolia Test (NPT) were enrolled. Subcortical gray matter volume and cortical surface volume were analyzed using the FreeSurfer software. Structural analyses revealed associations between NPT scores and atrophy in the right thalamus, right hippocampus, right temporal cortex, and right orbitofrontal cortex in all PD participants. These results were almost the same after adjusting for right-handed 97 patients with PD. It is considered that hallucinations in patients with PD are related to altered integration of sensory input (bottom-up) and prior knowledge (top-down) within the visual system. Our findings indicate that pareidolia in PD involves both bottom-up (thalamus and temporal cortex) and top-down (orbitofrontal cortex) processing disturbances; in contrast, VH predominantly involves bottom-up but not top-down regions. Understanding these distinctions could aid in the development of targeted interventions for hallucinations in patients with PD.
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spelling doaj-art-f0ed454b75a442068c84f326987074bf2025-08-20T02:43:36ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-12-011411810.1038/s41598-024-82707-xStructural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s diseaseMasakazu Ozawa0Tomotaka Shiraishi1Hidetomo Murakami2Daisuke Yoshimaru3Asako Onda4Hiromasa Matsuno5Teppei Komatsu6Kenichi Sakuta7Kenichiro Sakai8Tadashi Umehara9Hidetaka Mitsumura10Hirotaka James Okano11Yasuyuki Iguchi12Department of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDivision of Regenerative Medicine, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineDivision of Regenerative Medicine, The Jikei University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurology, The Jikei University School of MedicineAbstract Visual hallucinations (VH) and pareidolia, a type of minor hallucination, share common underlying mechanisms. However, the similarities and differences in their brain regions remain poorly understood in Parkinson’s disease (PD). A total of 104 drug-naïve PD patients underwent structural MRI and were assessed for pareidolia using the Noise Pareidolia Test (NPT) were enrolled. Subcortical gray matter volume and cortical surface volume were analyzed using the FreeSurfer software. Structural analyses revealed associations between NPT scores and atrophy in the right thalamus, right hippocampus, right temporal cortex, and right orbitofrontal cortex in all PD participants. These results were almost the same after adjusting for right-handed 97 patients with PD. It is considered that hallucinations in patients with PD are related to altered integration of sensory input (bottom-up) and prior knowledge (top-down) within the visual system. Our findings indicate that pareidolia in PD involves both bottom-up (thalamus and temporal cortex) and top-down (orbitofrontal cortex) processing disturbances; in contrast, VH predominantly involves bottom-up but not top-down regions. Understanding these distinctions could aid in the development of targeted interventions for hallucinations in patients with PD.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82707-xPareidoliaVisual hallucinationMinor hallucinationParkinson’s diseaseSurface-based morphometry
spellingShingle Masakazu Ozawa
Tomotaka Shiraishi
Hidetomo Murakami
Daisuke Yoshimaru
Asako Onda
Hiromasa Matsuno
Teppei Komatsu
Kenichi Sakuta
Kenichiro Sakai
Tadashi Umehara
Hidetaka Mitsumura
Hirotaka James Okano
Yasuyuki Iguchi
Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease
Scientific Reports
Pareidolia
Visual hallucination
Minor hallucination
Parkinson’s disease
Surface-based morphometry
title Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease
title_full Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease
title_fullStr Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease
title_full_unstemmed Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease
title_short Structural MRI study of Pareidolia and Visual Hallucinations in Drug–Naïve Parkinson’s disease
title_sort structural mri study of pareidolia and visual hallucinations in drug naive parkinson s disease
topic Pareidolia
Visual hallucination
Minor hallucination
Parkinson’s disease
Surface-based morphometry
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82707-x
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