Parkinson’s Disease Detection Using Machine Learning Algorithms: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which early detection remains a major clinical challenge due to heterogeneous motor and non-motor manifestations and the lack of reliable biomarkers. In recent years, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) methods have been increasingly investigated as decision-support tools for PD screening using diverse clinical and behavioral data. This review synthesizes PD detection studies published between 2017 and 2025, systematically analyzing 32 representative works across multiple modalities, including MRI, PET, EEG, REM sleep biomarkers, voice recordings, gait signals, handwriting/drawing tasks, and finger-tapping measurements. Across the reviewed literature, high classification performance is frequently reported, with CNN-based and hybrid DL architectures achieving particularly strong results in imaging and time-series settings, while classical ML approaches such as SVM and ensemble models remain competitive for engineered feature-based datasets. However, the review also reveals major barriers to reliable translation, including small datasets, inconsistent evaluation protocols, limited external validation, and the risk of performance inflation caused by non-subject-independent data splitting. Overall, this review provides a structured and modality-oriented reference of algorithms, datasets, and performance trends, while highlighting key methodological gaps and practical priorities for developing robust and clinically deployable PD detection systems.