Revealing microstructural pathology in Parkinson's disease with super-resolution MRI

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the fastest growing of all neurological disorders, and its symptoms develop gradually. By the time of diagnosis, at least 20 years after the first symptoms, approximately 70% of vulnerable nerve cells in key brain regions are already lost. Many are clustered in tiny structures called nigrosomes, where iron accumulates in the earliest stages of PD. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is highly sensitive to iron accumulation but the nigrosomes are too small to be reliably detected with traditional imaging techniques: even small head motions during a scan can render them invisible. I have developed a non-traditional approach to MRI which overcomes these fundamental technical barriers to reach ultra-high resolutions. This provides new opportunities to both visualise the nigrosomes and measure their iron content. I will develop this as an accurate measure of PD, creating a new path for early diagnosis and rapid clinical trials.