Developing MRI Biomarkers for the Differential Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with death of dopamine-producing neurons. This results in structural changes to the striatum, substantial nigra (SNc), and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Motor symptoms of PD are extremely heterogeneous causing a high rate of misdiagnosis of similar disorders (e.g. Essential tremor; ET) as PD. This study aims to identify objective indicators of PD with MRI, to help physicians differentiate PD patients from healthy people, and ET patients. 60 participants from each group will be recruited. The MacDonald and Khan labs recently developed a novel MRI technique to identify structural changes in the striatum and SNc/VTA by parcellating these regions into sub-regions based on connectivity, which reliably differentiates PD patients from healthy controls with unprecedented accuracy. This study will test the ability of this technique to differentiate PD from other movement disorders with the hopes of providing physicians an accessible and reliable diagnostic tool.

Faculty Supervisor:

Penny Macdonald

Student:

Partner:

Parkinson Society Southwestern Ontario

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program: