The Role of Neuroimaging in Parkinson ’s Disease

AbstractParkinson ’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Two hallmarks of PD are the accumulation of alpha-synuclein and the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. There is no cure for PD, and all existing treatments focus on alleviating the symptoms. PD diagn osis is also based on the symptoms, such as abnormalities of movement, mood and cognition observed in the patients.Molecular imaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) can detect objective alterations in the neurochemical machinery of the brain and help diagnose and study neurodegenerative diseases.This review addresses the application of functional MRI, PET and SPECT in PD patients. We provide an overview of the imaging targets, discuss the rationale behind target selection, the agents (tracers) with which the imaging can be performed and the main findings regarding each target ’s state in PD. Molecular imaging has proven itself effective in supporting clinical diagnosis of PD and has helped reveal that PD is a heterogeneous disorder, which has important implications for the development of future therapies. However, the application of molecular imaging for early diagnosi s of PD or for differentiation between PD and atypical parkinsonisms has remained challenging.The final section of the review is dedicated to new imaging targets with which one can detect t...
Source: Journal of Neurochemistry - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: REVIEW Source Type: research