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The Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar Series will advance the vision of Dr. William Feindel (1918–2014), Former Director of the Neuro (1972–1984), to constantly bridge the clinical and research realms. The talks will highlight the latest advances and discoveries in neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and neuroimaging.

Speakers will include scientists from across The Neuro, as well as colleagues and collaborators locally and from around the world. The series is intended to provide a virtual forum for scientists and trainees to continue to foster interdisciplinary exchanges on the mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of brain and cognitive disorders.

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Lydia Chougar

Post-doctoral fellow, The Neuro, 91ÉçÇø

Host: alain.dagher [at] mcgill.ca (Alain Dagher)

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Parkinson’s disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease, is the primary cause of Parkinsonism, characterized by a combination of resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. Atypical Parkinsonism refers to other rare neurodegenerative disorders, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and corticobasal degeneration, which are associated with a poorer prognosis. Degeneration of the substantia nigra pars compacta is the pathological hallmark of neurodegenerative Parkinsonian disorders. These diseases present significant challenges in terms of early diagnosis, differentiation, and understanding of their pathophysiology.

Over the past twenty-five years, neuroimaging has profoundly transformed research and clinical management of Parkinsonism. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides several in vivo quantitative biomarkers sensitive to various tissue properties that reveal underlying pathological processes. Regional brain atrophy, detected using T1-weighted three-dimensional (3D) sequences, reflects neuronal loss. Diffusion anomalies indicate the presence of microstructural alterations related to neuroinflammation, while iron-sensitive imaging detects iron deposits. Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI serves as a proxy for degeneration of the substantia nigra. More recently, positron emission tomography (PET) has enabled the detection of misfolded protein aggregates, such as Tau and alpha-synuclein, seen in these diseases, allowing for an ante-mortem pathological diagnosis.

The first part of the talk will illustrate how neuroimaging biomarkers contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease and their use in providing an early diagnosis, quantifying disease severity and progression, and monitoring treatment effects. The second part will highlight the contribution of neuroimaging to the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian disorders, with a focus on recent applications of machine learning algorithms trained with MRI features.

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