Researchers Using MRI Technology for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's

Researchers at Harvard Medical School are using MRI technology to look for changes in the shape and size of certain brain regions with the hope of developing a method for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Researchers have been able to create an "atlas" of the brain, showing the position, shape and size of brain structures in healthy and diseased brains in a process that only takes 30 minutes. Thirty-seven different brain regions are labeled and evaluated to determine if a brain is normal or diseased.

In 17 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's, three regions of the brain were found to be smaller than in 25 healthy people, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and thalamus.

The lateral ventricle was larger in the Alzheimer's patients than in the healthy participants, the researchers reported in the journal Neuron.

Researchers also looked at 92 people who were suspected of having Alzheimer's disease and the MRI system correctly distinguished between the 21 people who within three years were confirmed to have the condition and the 71 people who did not develop the disease.

Investigators are hopeful that their new MRI system will provide a more accurate and sensitive tool for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders.

Other sources: Neuron