http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110916131252.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
Recently published studies by a researcher in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry demonstrate that ALS -- known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- damages neurons in parts of the brain responsible for cognition and behaviour.
Kalra uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) not to just look at pictures of the brain, but also as a means of measuring the levels of various chemicals in the brain. In his most recently published paper, he looked at two different chemicals called NAA and mIns. NAA is known as a neural marker, which means it is only found in neurons, while levels of mIns increase when there is abnormal scarring in the brain.
His paper published in early 2011 looked at decreasing levels of NAA in the cingulate cortex -- the first time MRI had been used to measure chemicals in this region of the brain in ALS. And his most recently published paper, which came out late this summer, was the first to demonstrate that NAA was decreasing and mIns was increasing in the frontal lobe, even when there weren't signs of cognitive or behavioural issues in patients. The frontal lobe is considered the hub for cognition and behaviour in the brain.
N. Sudharshan, C. Hanstock, B. Hui, T. Pyra, W. Johnston, S. Kalra. Degeneration of the Mid-Cingulate Cortex in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Detected In Vivo with MR Spectroscopy. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 2010; 32 (2): 403 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A2289
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