Neuroimaging has revolutionised the study and clinical management of brain disease. Despite its huge impact, there remains a clinical need for methods that provide sensitive and specific measures of regional brain pathology. This will improve the diagnosis, tracking and assessment of emerging therapeutics in clinical neurology.
At CABI, we develop novel neuroimaging techniques to provide new diagnostic and prognostic tools. We use neuroimaging to study fundamental basic science mechanisms and their role in stroke, epilepsy and neurodegenerative disease.
In collaboration with the Gourine lab, we have established an imaging platform for robust mapping of functional hyperaemia to both sensory and optogenetic stimulus, using BOLD fMRI and arterial spin labelling.
Brain perfusion
Cerebral blood flow during MCA occlusion (model of stroke) in 5 coronal slices across the rat brain (in-vivo), captured using arterial spin labelling MRI
3D MRI of iron-oxide labelled antibodies (vascular cell adhesion molecule) to image seizure induced inflammation in epilepsy. A - control. B - status epilepticus
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fMRI mapping of the mouse brain visual pathway
Optogenetics
Optogenetic activation to a single, 10 ms, pulse of light captured with BOLD fMRI (varying light intensity)
Hyperaemia
Combined CBF/BOLD capture of functional hyperaemia using arterial spin labelling MRI with T2* weighted readout
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Tensor based morphomtry of the mouse brain. Results from structural analysis at 5.5 months, showing tensor-based morphometry statistical results overlaid on representative coronal slices of the final group average image after 15 iterations of non-rigid registration. Red: regions where the rTg4510 brains are relatively locally smaller than the average and blue: rTg4510 brains are locally larger. Based on false discovery rate-corrected t statistics (q = 0.05).
Alzheimer's disease
The Alzheimer's disease research group at CABI, focuses on the use of non-invasive MRI to study the effects of pathological accumulations of the protein hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, amyloid and tau, on brain structure and function. In collaboration with industrial partner, Eli Lilly, the team at CABI have been conducting longitudinal studies of the effects听of novel neuroprotective candidates, and using MR readouts to monitor disease progression, and therapeutic effect, long term.
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