AUTHOR=Mazón Miguel , Vázquez Costa Juan Francisco , Ten-Esteve Amadeo , Martí-Bonmatí Luis 

TITLE=Imaging Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Neurodegenerative Diseases. The Example of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2018.00784

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2018.00784

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>The term amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) comprises a heterogeneous group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders of largely unknown etiology characterized by the upper motor neurons (UMN) and/or lower motor neurons (LMN) degeneration. The development of brain imaging biomarkers is essential to advance in the diagnosis, stratification and monitoring of ALS, both in the clinical practice and clinical trials. In this review, the characteristics of an optimal imaging biomarker and common pitfalls in biomarkers evaluation will be discussed. Moreover, the development and application of the most promising brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging biomarkers will be reviewed. Finally, the integration of both qualitative and quantitative multimodal brain MR biomarkers in a structured report will be proposed as a support tool for ALS diagnosis and stratification.</p>