STRUCTURAL MRI IMAGING IN HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Previous research with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has indicated that brain atrophy occurs in specific regions prior to Huntington's disease (HD) diagnosis in individuals who have the HD gene mutation. As the disease progresses, brain atrophy spreads to other regions, though the advancing pattern of brain atrophy is not well-characterized. We are currently leading a longitudinal multi-site investigation of brain structure and cognition in presymptomatic HD which will help us to delineate brain changes that occur before people are diagnosed with HD. By using sophisticated software developed at the University of Iowa, we will anlayze MRI scans of 20 individuals who have the gene mutation for HD and who have been diagnosed with the disease. This will allow us to better characterize the progression of brain atrophy throughout the course of the disease.