Iron Neurobiology and Insights from Neuroimaging

COEX 

Iron is critical for neuronal functioning, is required for myelin formation and maintenance, and is linked to dopamine biochemistry, among other cellular functions. The ability to quantify specific iron forms in the living brain would open new avenues for diagnosis or therapeutic monitoring and provide insights into key factors involved in disease pathogenesis or iron accumulation and redistribution associated with aging and development. Therefore, there is a fundamental interest in non-invasive imaging techniques that allow assessment of brain tissue composition. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides indirect information on iron deposition through measurements of proton relaxation rates of water and magnetic susceptibility. We will discuss MRI methods for a characterization of iron with basic aspects of cerebral iron biology to promote synergies between neuroimaging and neurobiology.