Developing Advanced Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Imaging for Early AD

Aging is the primary risk factor in aging-related dementia. An important initiating factor for the development and progression of cognitive impairment is disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). BBB plays an important role in maintaining normal brain homeostasis and protecting neural tissues from toxins. It is hypothesized that such changes known to be common in aging and can be an early process that precedes Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The microvascular changes related to subtle BBB disruption can be measured with permeability-surface area (PS) derived from GRASP DCE-MRI acquired less than 10 minutes, and the patterns of increased PS in normal and abnormal aging are different.