Neuroimaging Techniques in Parkinson's Disease
Summary
Neuroimaging has become an indispensable tool in elucidating the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease, offering insight into both structural and functional alterations that underlie motor and non-motor symptoms. Structural magnetic resonance imaging methods such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) reveal microstructural integrity of white matter tracts, detecting changes in axonal organisation and myelination that correlate with symptom severity and progression. Functional MRI (fMRI) enables mapping of altered activity within motor, cognitive and limbic circuits, highlighting impaired connectivity in corticostriatal and thalamocortical loops. Complementary advanced approaches such as free-water imaging and multicomponent relaxometry refine these findings by distinguishing extracellular fluid changes from true tissue degeneration and by quantifying myelin water fraction. Together, these modalities provide biomarkers for early diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression and stratification of patients for targeted therapies, emphasising the global importance of imaging in both basic research and clinical trials.
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Neuroimaging Techniques in Parkinson's Disease publication trend
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Technical terms
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI): An MRI technique that measures the directional movement of water molecules, providing indices of white matter microstructure such as fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity.
Fractional anisotropy (FA): A scalar value derived from DTI that quantifies the degree of directional water diffusion, with lower values indicating disrupted fibre integrity.
Functional MRI (fMRI): A method that detects brain activity by measuring changes in blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals, used to map functional connectivity and task-related activation.
Free-water imaging: An advanced diffusion MRI approach that separates extracellular free-water signal from tissue-bound water, enabling distinct assessment of neuroinflammation and cellular degeneration.
References
- Recent advances in using diffusion tensor imaging to study white matter alterations in Parkinson’s disease: A mini review. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (2023).
- Free-Water Imaging in White and Gray Matter in Parkinson’s Disease. Cells (2019).
- Functional and free-water imaging in rapid eye movement behaviour disorder and Parkinson’s disease. Brain Communications (2024).
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