Molecular and functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging for the study of dementia

The living brain's structure, function, and underlying chemistry are increasingly being revealed in sharpened detail by the extraordinary evolution of magnetic resonance (MR) technology. Recent years have ushered in a wealth of new information about neurophysiology and pathological states owing to such technologies as functional MR imaging (fMRI), MR spectroscopy (MRS), and MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). These advances are of substantial benefit in the study of the dementias, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). One primary objective of our laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital NMR Center is to utilize these extant and emerging MR technologies to further understanding of the human brain as it undergoes assault by AD. Our approach is guided by the belief that the pathological states observed in the AD brain must be accompanied by structural, chemical and/or physiological changes that can be made visible in an in vivo MR study. Quantitative measurements by MRI medical temporal lobe structures have been shown to be abnormal by several groups including our own. This use of MRI will be reviewed by others. In this paper, I will review recent advances in the application of MR for the study of chemical and functional brain abnormalities in dementia, and in particular to the investigation of AD.