Imaging biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease

Imaging plays an increasingly important role in both clinical practice and research in Alzheimer's disease. Clinically, there is growing appreciation that imaging provides not just exclusion of alternative pathologies, but also positive predictive, diagnostic, and prognostic information in dementia. Imaging can improve specificity of diagnosis in trial populations, facilitate research on the earlier stages of disease, and provide crucial information regarding drug safety and toxicity. With the advent of disease-modifying therapies, these properties acquire increasing importance. Furthermore, imaging biomarkers have the potential to serve as outcome measures of disease progression. A whole arsenal of imaging modalities has now been developed, each allowing a different aspect of the disease process to be explored. However, the limitations of each technique must also be appreciated. A multimodal approach, where imaging markers are combined, may be required to maximize the potential of imaging to enhance our understanding of Alzheimer's disease and to help find effective therapies.