About this Research Topic
Clinical manifestation and evolution of many neurological and psychiatric disorders are sustained by the interplay between tissue damage, induced by inflammation and neuroaxonal degeneration, and tissue repair capability. Neurodegeneration represents the end stage of a variety of pathological insults, including but not limited to oxidative-stress, protein/metal deposition, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Inflammation also plays a critical role in driving neurodegeneration, with differential immune responses involving the adaptive versus the innate immune system observed at various stages of neurodegenerative, neuroinflammatory and psychiatric disorders. Tissue repair and clinical compensation derive from both local and global structural/functional modifications, modulated by individual resilience and premorbid reserve.
Over the years, several imaging and processing techniques have been developed and applied to characterize tissue damage in-vivo, offering valuable insights in the mechanisms sustaining disease onset and evolution and providing useful markers to monitor treatment response. Although the investigation of tissue repair is more complex, longitudinal observations and studies combining in-vivo and ex-vivo data have contributed significant advances over the last decade. Recently, the implementation of multimodal approaches, allowing the concomitant exploration of inflammation, neurodegeneration, and repair has offered a unique tool to clarify the correlates of clinical manifestations and disease progression.
In this Research Topic, we aim to provide an overview of imaging techniques available to investigate the pathological correlates of clinical manifestations and disease progression across pathologies affecting the central nervous system (CNS).
We will consider contributions coming from different disciplines (e.g. neuroradiology, neurology, psychiatry, clinical neuroscience, etc.) and focusing but not limited to the following subjects:
• imaging techniques to investigate the clinical impact of CNS inflammation.
• imaging techniques to investigate the clinical impact of CNS neurodegeneration.
• imaging techniques to investigate tissue repair within the CNS.
Over the years, several imaging and processing techniques have been developed and applied to characterize tissue damage in-vivo, offering valuable insights in the mechanisms sustaining disease onset and evolution and providing useful markers to monitor treatment response. Although the investigation of tissue repair is more complex, longitudinal observations and studies combining in-vivo and ex-vivo data have contributed significant advances over the last decade. Recently, the implementation of multimodal approaches, allowing the concomitant exploration of inflammation, neurodegeneration, and repair has offered a unique tool to clarify the correlates of clinical manifestations and disease progression.
In this Research Topic, we aim to provide an overview of imaging techniques available to investigate the pathological correlates of clinical manifestations and disease progression across pathologies affecting the central nervous system (CNS).
We will consider contributions coming from different disciplines (e.g. neuroradiology, neurology, psychiatry, clinical neuroscience, etc.) and focusing but not limited to the following subjects:
• imaging techniques to investigate the clinical impact of CNS inflammation.
• imaging techniques to investigate the clinical impact of CNS neurodegeneration.
• imaging techniques to investigate tissue repair within the CNS.
Keywords: Neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, tissue repair, in-vivo, post-mortem, animal models, MRI, metabolic imaging, volumetry, connectivity, microstructure, neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
