Changes in dynamic transitions between integrated and segregated states underlie visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease
Communications Biology September 8, 2022 Angeliki Zarkali, Andrea I. Luppi, Emmanuel A. Stamatakis et al.
People with Parkinson's disease who experience hallucinations spend more time in a brain state where regions are functionally segregated from one another and make fewer transitions between brain states. The shift from an integrated to a segregated state requires less energy in those who hallucinate, making that state potentially preferable. The regional energy needed for this transition correlates with neurotransmitter density and gene expression for serotoninergic, GABAergic, noradrenergic, and cholinergic receptors, but not dopaminergic receptors. The findings suggest that neurochemistry and brain structure together shape the dynamic brain states that underlie hallucinations.