Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

With the recent advances in treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD)in the last decade, focus has shifted increasingly to accurate detectionof earliest phase of the illness. This includes early Alzheimer'sdisease (AD) as well as the intermediate state between normal agingand established AD, is commonly known as mild cognitive impairment(MCI). Clinical criteria alone are insufficient to accurately identifythis at risk group of subjects and hence, bio-markers have been anarea of intense research to see if they can supplement the clinicalapproaches. In recent years, neuroimaging has emerged as a usefulbiomarker in the diagnostic armamentarium of AD that serves the tripleroles of early diagnosis, prediction of progression, and monitoringof disease progression. In this chapter, we review the body of evidenceon the use of neuroimaging biomarkers, alone and in combination,from the standpoints of diagnosis of early AD, predicting MCI conversionto AD and monitoring subsequent disease progression. We concludewith a discussion on the implications of these findings to the applicationof neuroimaging biomarkers in clinical and therapeutic trials.