Molecular and microstructural biomarkers of neuroplasticity in neurodegenerative disorders through preclinical and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging studies

Rodolfo Gabriel Gatto^1,*

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¹ Department of Bioengineering, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, 60607, USA

^*Correspondence: rgatto@uic.edu (Rodolfo Gabriel Gatto)

J. Integr. Neurosci. 2020, 19(3), 571–592; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin.2020.03.165

Submitted: 26 May 2020 | Revised: 8 September 2020 | Accepted: 10 September 2020 | Published: 30 September 2020

This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract

Advances in the understanding of genetic and molecular mechanisms and imaging technologies have opened a new window of research possibilities to address dynamic processes associated with neuroplasticity in physiologically intact models of neurodegenerative diseases. This review aims to: (i) establish the most relevant molecular mechanisms, as well as cellular and structural biomarkers in the study of neuroplasticity; (ii) introduce different neurodegenerative diseases in animal models that contribute to our knowledge of neuroplasticity; and (iii) illustrate the capabilities and limitations of current diffusion magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study cortical plasticity, as well as the use of alternative diffusion models.

Keywords

Neuroplasticity

neurodegenerative diseases

preclinical animal models

bioimaging markers

axonal degeneration

diffusion magnetic resonance imaging

diffusion tensor imaging

anomalous magnetic resonance imaging diffusion

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