{"id":90391,"date":"2026-05-04T21:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/imaging-reveals-link-between-inner-nuclear-layer-thickness-parkinsons-disease\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:11:16","slug":"imaging-reveals-link-between-inner-nuclear-layer-thickness-parkinsons-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/imaging-reveals-link-between-inner-nuclear-layer-thickness-parkinsons-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Imaging reveals link between inner nuclear layer thickness, Parkinson\u2019s disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"ArticleContent\">\n<div class=\"article__below-title\">\n<div class=\"mobile-trust-box\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-5 d-xl-none\">\n<div class=\"trust-box\">\n<div class=\"trust-box-logo d-none d-md-block\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/h5\/feature\/news\/publogos\/osn.svg?la=en&amp;h=32&amp;w=145&amp;hash=C099A5ADC410818ECDF2097A4CD3C51F\" class=\"logo-img\" height=\"32\" alt=\"occular surgery news logo\" width=\"145\"\/>\n          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 offset-md-1 offset-xl-0 col-xl-12\">\n<div class=\"email-alert-button-wrapper d-none\" data-component=\"EmailTopicAlert\" data-module=\"Subspecialty Email Topic Alerts Top\" data-manage-email-link=\"\/footer\/account-information\/my-account\/email-subscriptions-and-alerts#emailAlerts\">\n  <hidden data-setting-item=\"d265901d-6d37-49c7-a8f6-c7bf19a02509\"\/><br \/>\n  <hidden data-crm-source=\"Subspecialty Topic Alert\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-button d-none\" data-topic-button=\"not-subscribed\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n      <span data-module-track-action=\"Email Alerts TOP_Click_Healio News Article\" data-module-track-label=\"Email Alerts TOP_Healio News Article\">&#13;<br \/>\n        <i class=\"fas fa-plus-circle\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n        Add topic to email alerts&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/span>&#13;\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-inner collapse uacdf4b79f2194fcd80cafa798a60670c\">\n<div class=\"email-alert-dialogue\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n          Receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>&#13;\n        <\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-sign-up-type=\"unknown\">\n          Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn-primary\" data-loading-text=\"Loading &lt;i class=\" fa=\"\" fa-spinner=\"\" fa-spin=\"\">&#8220;&#13;<br \/>\n              data-action=&#8221;subscribe&#8221;&gt;&#13;<br \/>\n        Subscribe&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-topic-modal=\"failed\">    <strong>We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n<p><button data-dismiss=\"modal\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block\">Back to Healio<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Key takeaways:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease had a thicker inner nuclear layer than matched controls.<\/li>\n<li>Retinal imaging could help predict, diagnose and track progression of Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>DENVER \u2014 Retina imaging may reveal links to Parkinson\u2019s disease, according to a poster presentation at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people &#8230; would say that the eye is the window into the soul,\u201d <b>Michael Zhu<\/b><b>,<\/b> a medical student at Duke University School of Medicine, told Healio. \u201cWe think the eyes are also the window into the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure article__og-image\">&#13;\n    <picture>&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/ophthalmology\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/osn0525_arvo_zhu_infographic.webp?w=476\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/ophthalmology\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/osn0525_arvo_zhu_infographic.webp?w=800\" media=\"(max-width: 992px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/ophthalmology\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/osn0525_arvo_zhu_infographic.webp?w=595\" media=\"(max-width: 1200px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/ophthalmology\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/osn0525_arvo_zhu_infographic.webp?w=476\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/ophthalmology\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/osn0525_arvo_zhu_infographic.webp?w=476\">&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/ophthalmology\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/osn0525_arvo_zhu_infographic.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"Michael Zhu\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid\" width=\"800\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n    <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>&#13;<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">&#13;<br \/>\n      <em>Image: Anthony DeFino | Healio<\/em>&#13;<br \/>\n    <\/figcaption>&#13;<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>Zhu and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional, case-control study that looked at how changes in the retina might be associated with Parkinson\u2019s disease. Zhu said previous research has found links between Parkinson\u2019s and thinning of certain layers of the retina, and in the current study, those potential links were explored by comparing 43 adult patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease and 43 controls matched for age and sex.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers used OCT to quantify retinal layer thickness in six layers of the retina and measured mean thickness within the 3- and 6- mm circles of the ETDRS grid, according to the study.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOther people have described thinning of the layers,\u201d Zhu said. \u201cWe actually found a thickening of some of the layers. In particular, the inner nuclear layer was significantly thicker in our patient population than in age- and sex-matched controls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the group with Parkinson\u2019s disease, mean thickness in the 6-mm ETDRS circle of the inner nuclear layer was 31.7 \u00b5m compared with 30.52 \u00b5m in the control group (<i>P<\/i> = .039), according to the study.<\/p>\n<p>There was also a trend toward thickening in the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer and the retinal pigment epithelium, according to Zhu.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not quite sure why this is the case,\u201d Zhu told Healio. \u201cWe think it might be because we are looking at an early-stage Parkinson\u2019s cohort, so it is possible that before you have the atrophic thinning of the retina, you might actually have some swelling or neuroinflammation, which causes some early thickening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zhu said the findings could have implications in the future of neurology and ophthalmology, possibly leading to better diagnosis and progression tracking in Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOCT imaging is very common in ophthalmology clinics but pretty rare in neurology clinics,\u201d he said. \u201cIt does raise the possibility that this ophthalmic imaging can be useful in predicting, diagnosing or tracking disease progression. And so, ophthalmologists play a part in interpreting these findings and in helping us understand what really is going on in each of these retinal layers.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article__content--footer\">\n<div class=\"publisher-logo\">\n    <span>Published by:<\/span><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/h5\/feature\/news\/publogos\/osn.svg?la=en&amp;h=32&amp;w=145&amp;hash=C099A5ADC410818ECDF2097A4CD3C51F\" class=\"logo-img\" height=\"32\" alt=\"occular surgery news logo\" width=\"145\"\/>\n  <\/div>\n<div class=\"sources-references-disclosures\">\n<h3>Sources\/Disclosures<\/h3>\n<h2> Source: <\/h2>\n<p class=\"citation\">Zhu M, et al. Macular retinal layer thickness in early Parkinson\u2019s disease. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting; May 3-7, 2026; Denver.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclosures\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n        <strong> Disclosures: <\/strong>&#13;<br \/>\n        Zhu reports no relevant financial disclosures.&#13;\n      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- Healio AI Widget --><\/p>\n<div class=\"healio-ai-component-inline\" data-no-ads=\"true\" data-module-track-category=\"Healio AI\" data-module-track-action=\"Click\" data-module-track-label=\"Access Healio Ai from component - News_AI Component - In-Content (all devices)\">\n<div class=\"healio-ai-content\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/m3.healio.com\/~\/media\/images\/healio-ai\/healio-ai_logo.svg\" alt=\"Healio AI\" class=\"healio-ai-logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ask a clinical question<\/strong> and tap into <strong>Healio AI&#8217;s knowledge<\/strong> base.<\/p>\n<ul>&#13;<\/p>\n<li>PubMed, enrolling\/recruiting trials, guidelines<\/li>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<li>Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news<\/li>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<li>Healio&#8217;s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data<\/li>\n<p>&#13;\n    <\/ul>\n<p>    <button class=\"healio-ai-button\" onclick=\"window.location.href=\" https:=\"\">Learn more<\/button>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"email-alert-button-wrapper d-none\" data-component=\"EmailTopicAlert\" data-module=\"Subspecialty Email Topic Alerts Top\" data-manage-email-link=\"\/footer\/account-information\/my-account\/email-subscriptions-and-alerts#emailAlerts\">\n  <hidden data-setting-item=\"d265901d-6d37-49c7-a8f6-c7bf19a02509\"\/><br \/>\n  <hidden data-crm-source=\"Subspecialty Topic Alert\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-button d-none\" data-topic-button=\"not-subscribed\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n      <span data-module-track-action=\"Email Alerts TOP_Click_Healio News Article\" data-module-track-label=\"Email Alerts TOP_Healio News Article\">&#13;<br \/>\n        <i class=\"fas fa-plus-circle\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n        Add topic to email alerts&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/span>&#13;\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-inner collapse uacdf4b79f2194fcd80cafa798a60670c\">\n<div class=\"email-alert-dialogue\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n          Receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>&#13;\n        <\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-sign-up-type=\"unknown\">\n          Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn-primary\" data-loading-text=\"Loading &lt;i class=\" fa=\"\" fa-spinner=\"\" fa-spin=\"\">&#8220;&#13;<br \/>\n              data-action=&#8221;subscribe&#8221;&gt;&#13;<br \/>\n        Subscribe&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-topic-modal=\"failed\">    <strong>We were unable to process your request. 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