3D microscopic whole brain neurodegenerative MRI

3D microscopic whole brain neurodegenerative MRI This article by G. Allan Johnson, Ph.D., focuses on advanced MRI techniques for studying neurodegenerative diseases, exploring the challenges of screening therapies for conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and highlighting the promising research conducted at Duke University. Neurodegenerative diseases, e.g., Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, are increasing at alarming rates as the population ages. Researchers in academia and industry are generating hundreds of promising new therapeutic leads. But a major bottleneck is effective frontline screening. MRI has been a go-to method for following neurologic disease and response to therapy. But clinical trials are complex and costly. Preclinical trials are much more cost-effective, but MRI of mice and rats requires significantly (3000X) higher spatial resolution. Scientists at Duke University have recently demonstrated 3D MRI in mouse models of neurodegeneration at a spatial resolution 2.4 million times that of clinical MRI, with high-throughput methods to reduce the effort to evaluate new therapies. Imaging pipelines built on high-performance computing generate quantitative multi-parametric statistical atlases of genetically curated models with an enormous increase in efficacy.