Sleep benefit in patients with Parkinson’s disease is associated with the dopamine transporter expression in putamen

•The sleep benefit (SB) phenomenon was identified in PD patients and associated with sleep quality in PD patients.•SB variable was associated with the putamen 11C-CFT uptake index after correction for important clinical confounders. This provides evidence that SB phenomenon might be associated with dopamine terminal function and intracellular dopamine storage capacity in PD patients.•The putamen 11C-CFT uptake index has high capacity in predicting the SB in PD patients, and it is meaningful in discerning those PD patients with SB phenomenon who might be alleviated by improving the sleep quality instead of increasing the medication dose.