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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Functional Neuroimaging Using Ultrasonic Blood-brain Barrier Disruption and Manganese-enhanced MRI
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Manganese Enhanced MRI for Use in Studying Neurodegenerative Diseases

Galit Saar1, Alan P Koretsky1

  • 1Laboratory of Functional and Molecular Imaging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.

Frontiers in Neural Circuits
|January 23, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) offers valuable insights into neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's by visualizing neuronal connections and brain degeneration in preclinical studies. Future clinical applications are being explored.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging
  • Neuroscience
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is crucial for studying neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis (MS).
  • Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) utilizes the unique properties of manganese (Mn2+) to visualize neuronal structures and function.
  • Mn2+ enters excitable cells via voltage-gated calcium channels and is transported along axons, enabling detailed imaging of neural pathways.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the application of MEMRI in preclinical studies of neurodegenerative diseases.
  • To highlight MEMRI's utility in understanding brain degeneration and neuronal connectivity.
  • To discuss the potential for translating MEMRI techniques to clinical settings.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing preclinical studies employing MEMRI in animal models of neurodegeneration.
  • Analysis of Mn2+ properties enabling imaging of cellular anatomy, cytoarchitecture, and functional information.
  • Examination of anterograde axonal transport and synaptic activity visualized by MEMRI.

Main Results:

  • MEMRI provides detailed anatomical and functional information in various neurodegenerative disease models.
  • Studies using MEMRI have yielded significant insights into brain degeneration processes.
  • The technique has been instrumental in mapping neuronal connections and assessing neurodegeneration in preclinical research.

Conclusions:

  • MEMRI is a powerful tool for investigating neurodegenerative diseases in animal models.
  • Its ability to trace neuronal pathways and assess cellular function offers unique advantages.
  • Further research may facilitate the clinical translation of MEMRI for diagnosing and monitoring human neurodegenerative conditions.
Keywords:
MEMRImanganesemanganese-52molecular imagingneurodegenerationneuronal connectivitytract tracing

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