Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Phenotypes for the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative

The Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) delivers multiple modality MRI (M3RI) and biomarker data for a comprehensive longitudinal study of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). These provide quantitative indices of deep brain and cortical structure (T1-weighted MRI), microstructural integrity of brain tissue (diffusion-weighted imaging) and resting brain function (resting state functional MRI). Integrating and uniformly analyzing M3RI alongside non-imaging biological and clinical data is challenging due to the distinct nature of each modality. This study systematically organizes these complex data into a structured format, provides a PD-focused evaluation of the methodologies and evidence for technical robustness of the approach. The cohort encompasses 841 idiopathic PD, 309 genetic PD, 1364 presymptomatic PD and 240 control subjects at baseline with followup at a mean of 1.83 years.