AAN 2026 | Resting-state motor network connectivity as a biomarker of levodopa response in Parkinson’s disease
Nardin Samuel, MD, PhD, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, discusses the potential of resting-state motor network connectivity as a biomarker for predicting levodopa response in Parkinson’s disease. She highlights the need for better understanding of the underlying motor network changes caused by the disease’s pathology, noting that analyzing baseline resting motor connectivity may provide insight into whether patients will respond to levodopa therapy. This interview took place at the 78th American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
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Transcript
So you know in neurology we use drugs that we’ve been using for decades and many years and in many cases it’s very hard to tell whether patients will respond to these medications or not. And the use of levodopa in Parkinson’s disease is a very good example of that. You know some patients respond very well and don’t really develop side effects for many years and in some patients may not derive as much benefit from long-term levodopa therapy or can develop side effects that can be quite bothersome and interfere with their quality of life...
So you know in neurology we use drugs that we’ve been using for decades and many years and in many cases it’s very hard to tell whether patients will respond to these medications or not. And the use of levodopa in Parkinson’s disease is a very good example of that. You know some patients respond very well and don’t really develop side effects for many years and in some patients may not derive as much benefit from long-term levodopa therapy or can develop side effects that can be quite bothersome and interfere with their quality of life. And I think understanding the baseline resting motor connectivity and to what extent these motor networks are actually impacted by the alpha-synucleinopathy or the pathology that’s causing changes within these motor networks can maybe give us a window of insight into whether or not these patients might respond to these therapies and that’s exactly what we did. We did a study looking at multiple areas in the literature that we compiled in order to give us a window of insight into how resting state connectivity may give insight into biomarkers of levodopa response.
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Disclosures
Dr. Samuel has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Cove Neurosciences Inc..
