Present and Future of Ultra-High Field MRI in Neurodegenerative Disorders

This article reviews recent studies at ultra-high field about Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Park inson’s disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Recent FindingsThe research on AD has mainly focused on detecting the thinning of hippocampal layers and the susceptibility effect supposed to be related to beta-amyloid deposition. In patients with PD, atypical parkinsonisms and subjects at risk of developing motor symptoms of Parkinson ’s disease, the main aim was to detect changes in the substantia nigra, probably related to increased iron deposition. In patients with ALS, both brain and spinal cord were investigated, with the aim of finding changes in the primary motor cortex and corticospinal tract which reflect neurodegenera tion and neuroinflammation.SummaryUltra-high field MR was shown to be useful for detecting subtle brain changes in patients with AD, and possible new diagnostic biomarkers in patients with PD and ALS were discovered. The ability of 7  T MR to provide prognostic biomarkers in subjects at risk for developing synucleinopathies is currently under evaluation.
Source: Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research