PERFORM Colloquium - The role of MRI in Parkinson’s disease

The hallmark of Parkinson’s disease is the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Histological studies have also shown degeneration at several different levels of the brain including the pedunculopontine nucleus in the midbrain, the locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus complex in the pons and the motor nucleus of the vagus nerve in the medulla oblongata, the basal nucleus of Meynert as well as the cortex. Modern MRI approaches have allowed detecting changes in these regions in patients with Parkinson’s disease. This presentation will review recent advances in MRI biomarker research in Parkinson’s disease and their use to study brainstem and basal forebrain lesions in Parkinson’s disease in relation to clinical symptoms.

Objectives:

• To know the main biomarkers that can detect and monitor changes in the substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease.
• To know the structures affected in the brainstem and basal forebrain of patients with Parkinson’s disease and their link with the clinical signs
• To know the MRI changes that occur in the prodromal forms of Parkinson’s disease.

Speaker Bio:

Stephane Lehericy is director of the Centre de NeuroImagerie de Recherche – CENIR (Centre for NeuroImaging Research) and co-head with Marie Vidailhet of the team ‘Movement Investigation and Therapeutics’ at the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM – Brain and Spine Institute). He is Professor of Neuroradiology in the Salpetriere hospital. He has completed is PhD in basic neuroscience in the field of neurodegenerative diseases with Pr Yves Agid (Inserm, Paris) and his post-doc in functional neuroimaging at SHFJ-CEA in Orsay with Pr Denis Le Bihan. He spent about three years at the Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research / University of Minnesota (Pr Kamil Ugurbil). His scientific interest is in the study of normal and abnormal motor control in movement disorders such as dystonia, Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. His focus is on the functional organization of the human motor system. He has contributed to the understanding of the functional and anatomical circuitry of the basal ganglia and of network dysfunction in movement disorders and particularly Parkinson’s disease using multimodal MRI including fMRI and DTI.

Related links: http://www.cenir.org/equipe-irm/7-stephane-l.html?lang=fr