Use of MRI to monitor Parkinson’s disease

SUMMARY Objective biological markers of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are pivotal for confirming diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, and evaluating therapeutic interventions and disease-modifying agents. Structural and functional MRI provide an in vivo means to investigate the cortical and subcortical regions known to be affected in PD. In this article, we summarize how several MRI techniques, namely conventional MRI, iron-based MRI, volume-based MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional MRI have been used to assess the neurobiological changes related to the motor features of PD. We also discuss promising new research in which multiple MRI techniques are combined to achieve greater sensitivity and specificity of disease detection. Longitudinal research is necessary to establish MRI techniques as viable disease-state biomarkers of PD.