Noninvasive Assessment of Neurochemical Biomarkers in Humans with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Correlates of Clinical Heterogeneity

Abstract

Noninvasive neuroimaging techniques can provide objective measures of disease status that are critical for the development of neurological disease therapies. They can also unlock important information on pathologic changes in the brain in vivo. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful tool for investigating abnormalities in the brain’s neurochemistry. This thesis work validates and applies a highly optimized version of this technique to study the devastating neuromuscular disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Specific objectives focus on the identification of disease markers that can aid therapeutic development in ALS.