Neuroimaging in Ataxias

Piccinin C.C., D’Abreu A. (2018) In: Habas C. (eds) The Neuroimaging of Brain Diseases. Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience. pp 215-232, Springer, Cham. Doi.:10.1007/978-3-319-78926-2_9

Despite each type of ataxia has its own peculiarities, most of the symptoms overlap among them, making the diagnosis difficult when considering only the clinical picture. In this context, neuroimaging has become a valuable tool to help the diagnosis but also to better understand the affected brain areas and the pathophysiology of these conditions. Techniques as voxel-based morphometry, diffusion tensor imaging, and surface-based analyses have brought to light the structural differences between the ataxic patients and controls and also helped to differentiate the diagnosis. Functional MRI and spectroscopy have detected changes in functionality and in chemical ratios.

 Neuroimaging in Ataxias