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Imaging Parkinsonian Pathology in Substantia Nigra with MRI

  • Neuroimaging (T Massoud, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and its projection to the striatum undergo profound degeneration in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Literature on imaging PD-related changes in the nigrostriatal system using iron-sensitive and diffusion-sensitive MRI contrasts has been contentious, with both negative and positive results reported in each contrast. These incompatible findings may be due to the inaccurate placement of regions of interest for the SNc.

Recent Findings

Histologically, SNc is characterized by the presence of melanized dopamine neurons, whereas the substantia nigra pars reticulata is characterized by high iron content. Despite this histology, previous studies have frequently relied upon iron-sensitive MRI contrast when segmenting the SNc. This is also problematic since recent work found iron-sensitive and neuromelanin-sensitive contrasts are largely non-overlapping in substantia nigra. Since neuromelanin-sensitive MRI contrast colocalizes with the melanized dopamine neurons of the SNc upon radiologic–histologic correlation, the use of neuromelanin-sensitive MRI will allow for accurate localization of SNc and better capture parkinsonian pathobiology than iron-sensitive MRI.

Summary

This article outlines iron-sensitive and diffusion-sensitive MRI contrasts, and provides an overview of neuromelanin-sensitive MRI techniques. The application of these techniques to image parkinsonian pathobiology in substantia nigra is then reviewed, with a focus on neuromelanin-sensitive imaging methods for the accurate and reproducible study of PD-related changes in SNc. These advances may help resolve current controversies surrounding MRI investigations of substantia nigra in PD and related disorders.

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Acknowledgements

Xiaoping Hu and Daniel E. Huddleston receive support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJF 10854). Petr Dusek is supported by Czech Science Foundation (grant nr. 16-07879S) and Czech Ministry of Health (grant nr. 15-25602A). Bruce Crosson receives support from the Rehabilitation Research & Development Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development (award nr. B6364-L).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Daniel E. Huddleston, Bruce Crosson & Stewart Factor

  2. Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Jason Langley & Xiaoping P. Hu

  3. Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Charles University, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Dusek

  4. Department of Radiology, Charles University, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Dusek

  5. Department of Radiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Naying He

  6. Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Carlos C. Faraco

  7. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA

    Bruce Crosson

  8. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Bruce Crosson

  9. Department of Bioengineering, University of California Riverside, Materials Science and Engineering 205, Riverside, CA, USA

    Xiaoping P. Hu

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  1. Daniel E. Huddleston
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Daniel E. Huddleston, Jason Langley, Petr Dusek, Naying He, Carlos C. Faraco, Bruce Crosson, Stewart Factor, and Xiaoping Hu each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

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Huddleston, D.E., Langley, J., Dusek, P. et al. Imaging Parkinsonian Pathology in Substantia Nigra with MRI. Curr Radiol Rep 6, 15 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40134-018-0272-x

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