ENIGMA-Parkinson's Disease (ENIGMA-PD) is an international research initiative focused on advancing our understanding of Parkinson's Disease (PD) through large-scale, collaborative neuroimaging studies. Led by Dr. Ysbrand van der Werf, Max Laansma, Eva van Heese, Dr. Emile d’Angremont (VuMC, Amsterdam), and Dr. Conor Owens-Walton (USC), the ENIGMA-PD working group aims to identify reliable imaging biomarkers that track disease progression and clinical outcomes across diverse populations. By pooling neuroimaging data from 44 research centers spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, ENIGMA-PD leverages robust, multimodal imaging analyses to investigate how PD affects brain structure, connectivity, and function on a global scale.
Our work addresses critical questions in PD, including the roles of genetic factors, brain subtypes, and the effects of neuroanatomical changes on disease burden and progression. Combining MRI-based measures of brain atrophy, white matter integrity, and functional connectivity, ENIGMA-PD supports efforts to establish personalized, effective treatments for PD. By fostering global collaboration, we enhance the power and reproducibility of PD research, creating a foundation for future studies that seek to understand and combat this challenging disease.
If you are interested in joining ENIGMA-PD or learning more about our research, please contact us at enigma-pd@amsterdamumc.nl.
Explore our ENIGMA-PD GitHub page to find code, pipelines, and instructions from ENIGMA-PD projects, providing resources and tools to support ongoing Parkinson’s Disease research. This page is a work in progress, with new updates added regularly.
Projects
Ongoing:
Imaging-Genetics. In progress.
Patricia Diaz Galvan, Pablo Mir Rivera, Thomas Welton
Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, Spain / National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore
Neuropsychiatry. In progress.
Eva van Heese, Odile van den Heuvel
Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Structural Covariance. In progress.
Max Laansma, Fernando Santos, Andrea Luppi, Ysbrand van der Werf
Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands / University of Cambridge, UK
White Matter Hyperintensities. In progress.
Hamied Haroon, Sarah al Bachari
University College London, UK
Cognitive Reserve Based on Functional Connectivity. In progress.
Patricia Klobusiakova, Kristina Mitterova, Irena Rektorova
Central European Institute of Technology, Czech Republic
Spinal Cord Morphology. In progress.
Thiago Rezende, Marcondes França
University of Campinas, Brazil
Multi Symptom Progression Modelling. In progress.
Emile d'Angremont, Marco Lorenzi, Alessandro Viani, Boris Gutman
Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Connectomics and transcriptomics. In progress.
Shady Rahayel, Andrew Vo, Christina Tremblay, Alain Dagher
Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada
Subtyping based on cortical and subcortical morphology. Submitted, 2024.
Zeena Shawa, Neil Oxtoby
University College London, UK
“Data-Driven Subtypes of Spatiotemporal Atrophy due to Parkinson’s Disease, measured on T1-weighted MRI”
Completed:
Subcortical Shape Analysis. Published in npj Parkinson’s disease, 2024.
Max Laansma, Yuji Zhao, Eva van Heese, Ysbrand van der Werf, Boris Gutman
Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands / Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
“A Worldwide Study of Subcortical Shape As a Marker For Clinical Staging in Parkinson’s Disease”
Diffusion Imaging using TBSS. Published in npj Parkinson’s disease, 2024.
Conor Owens-Walton and Neda Jahanshad
Imaging Genetics Center, University of Southern California, USA
“A worldwide study of white matter microstructural alterations in people living with Parkinson’s disease”
Cerebellar volume. Published in Movement Disorders, 2023.
Rebecca Kerestes, Max Laansma, Ian Harding
Monash University, Australia / Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands
“Cerebellar Volume and Disease Staging in Parkinson's Disease: An ENIGMA-PD Study”
Cortical and Subcortical Morphology using FreeSurfer. Published in Movement Disorders, 2021.
Max Laansma, Ysbrand van der Werf
Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands
“International Multicenter Analysis of Brain Structure Across Clinical Stages of Parkinson's Disease”
Publications
- Subcortical Shape Analysis
Laansma, M.A., Zhao, Y., van Heese, E.M., ..., van der Werf, Y., Gutman, B. (2024). A worldwide study of subcortical shape as a marker for clinical staging in Parkinson’s disease. npj Parkinson’s Disease 10, 223, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-024-00825-9.
- Diffusion Imaging using TBSS
Owens-Walton, C., Nir, T.M., Al-Bachari, S., … and van der Werf, Y. (2024). A worldwide study of white matter microstructural alterations in people living with Parkinson’s disease. npj Parkinson’s Disease 10, 151, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-024-00758-3.
- Cerebellar volume
Kerestes, R., Laansma, M. A., Owens‐Walton, C., Perry, A., van Heese, E. M., Al‐Bachari, S., ... & ENIGMA‐Parkinson's Study. (2023). Cerebellar Volume and Disease Staging in Parkinson's Disease: An ENIGMA‐PD Study. Movement disorders, 38(12), 2269-2281, https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.29611.
- Cortical and subcortical morphology using FreeSurfer
Laansma, M. A., Bright, J. K., Al‐Bachari, S., Anderson, T. J., Ard, T., Assogna, F., ... & ENIGMA‐Parkinson's Study. (2021). International multicenter analysis of brain structure across clinical stages of Parkinson's disease. Movement disorders, 36(11), 2583-2594, https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.28706.
Locations of ENIGMA-PD Members