Structural Imaging Of Drug Actions In Neurodegenerative Diseases

Structural MRI (volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging) provides objective and reliable measures which are highly correlated to the neuronal loss and white matter damage observed in neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, structural MRI is increasingly used as a surrogate outcome marker in clinical trials assessing the effects of new treatments against neurodegenerative diseases. This chapter provides an overview of structural MRI as a biomarker in clinical trials, its strengths and limitations, and the techniques used in such trials and summarizes the results of treatment trials of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular impairment/dementia using structural MRI as an outcome marker.