Institutes
Neuroimaging of neurodegenerative diseases
Current knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases is limited by poor understanding of how they progress through the central nervous system (CNS). It has recently been hypothesized that clinical progression in these conditions involves the systematic spreading of protein misfolding along neuronal pathways. In neurodegenerative diseases, novel neuroimaging techniques can help to elucidate the spatial, time-dependent expansion of the underlying pathology across brain networks.
Research Activity
Our research program seeks to develop novel neuroimaging tools for understanding the biological underpinnings of CNS proteinopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease, and to help identifying individualized, early interventions to modify disease progression.
Specifically, our current major research interests are:
Specifically, our current major research interests are:
- To use MRI to assess the earliest manifestations of neurodegenerative diseases and improve their early (and differential) diagnosis;
- To decipher the mechanisms of network-based neurodegeneration by understanding how the complex architecture of brain networks shapes the evolving pathology of neurodegenerative diseases;
- To develop tools for monitoring neurodegenerative disease progression from presymptomatic to later stages of the disorder.
Agosta F, Ferraro PM, Riva N, Spinelli EG, Chiò A, Canu E, Valsasina P; Lunetta C, Iannaccone S; Copetti M, Prudente E, Comi G, Falini A, Filippi M. Structural brain correlates of cognitive and behavioral impairment in MND. Hum Brain Mapp. 2016; 37:1614-162.
Agosta F, Ferraro PM, Canu E, Copetti M, Galantucci S, Magnani G, Marcone A, Valsasina P, Sodero A, Comi G, Falini A, Filippi M. Differentiation between subtypes of primary progressive aphasia by using cortical thickness and diffusion-tensor MR imaging measures. Radiology 2015; 276:219-227.
Agosta F, Galantucci S, Magnani G, Marcone A, Martinelli D, Volonté MA, Riva N, Iannaccone S, Ferraro PM, Caso F, Chiò A, Comi G, Falini A, Filippi M. MRI signatures of the frontotemporal lobar degeneration continuum. Hum Brain Mapp. 2015; 36:2602-2614.
Agosta F, Dalla Libera D, Spinelli EG, Finardi A, Canu E, Bergami A, Bocchio Chiavetto L, Baronio M, Comi G, Martino G, Matteoli M, Magnani G, Verderio C, Furlan R. Myeloid microvesicles in cerebrospinal fluid are associated with myelin damage and neuronal loss in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease. Ann Neurol. 2014;76:813-825.
Agosta F, Canu E, Stefanova E, Sarro L, Tomić A, Špica V, Comi G, Kostić VS, Filippi M. Mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease is associated with a distributed pattern of brain white matter damage. Hum Brain Mapp. 2014; 35:1921-1929.
Agosta F, Sala S, Valsasina P, Meani A, Canu E, Magnani G, Cappa SF, Scola E, Quatto P, Horsfield MA, Falini A, Comi G, Filippi M. Brain network connectivity assessed using graph theory in frontotemporal dementia. Neurology 2013;81:134–143.
Agosta F, Scola E, Canu E, Marcone A, Magnani G, Sarro L, Copetti M, Caso F, Cerami C, Comi G, Cappa SF, Falini A, Filippi M. White matter damage in frontotemporal lobar degeneration spectrum. Cereb Cortex. 2012 Dec;22(12):2705-14.
Agosta F, Pievani M, Sala S, Geroldi C, Galluzzi S, Frisoni GB, Filippi M. White matter damage in Alzheimer disease and its relationship to gray matter atrophy. Radiology. 2011 Mar;258(3):853-63.
Agosta F, Henry RG, Migliaccio R, Neuhaus J, Miller BL, Dronkers NF, Brambati SM, Filippi M, Ogar JM, Wilson SM, Gorno-Tempini ML. Language networks in semantic dementia. Brain 2010 Jan;133(Pt 1):286-99.
Agosta F, Vossel KA, Miller BL, Migliaccio R, Bonasera SJ, Filippi M, Boxer AL, Karydas A, Possin KL, Gorno-Tempini ML. Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 is associated with disease-specific effects on brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Feb 10;106(6):2018-22.
