Govind Nair1, John D. Carew2,3,
1Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United
States; 2Institute for Health Studies, Carolinas HealthCare
System, Charlotte, NC, United States; 3School of Public Health,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States; 4Department of
Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States; 5Department
of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting
the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. VBM analysis performed on
T1-weighted images of the brain revealed significant changes in the motor
cortex and supporting white matter of ALS patients compared with age-matched
healthy control subjects. ROI analysis revealed a significant decrease in
signal intensity from these regions, with signal intensity of ALS group
showing significant correlation with clinical measures of disease severity.
These findings suggest that T1-weighted images may have utility as an imaging
biomarker of disease progression in ALS.