Currently, Parkinson’s disease can only be clearly diagnosed once it is well established. However, a new test using an MRI scanner could make it possible to diagnose the disease at an early stage, with 85% accuracy.
180 brain shots in six minutes
It was researchers at the University of Oxford who developed this six-minute test, which monitors neural connections in a concentrated area in the center of the brain. Even at an early stage of the disease, people with Parkinson’s have much weaker connections in this particular area of the brain associated with motor control.
Their study, published in the professional journal Neurology, found that by taking 180 images in a 6-minute period, doctors could spot bad connections. They also found in these trials that no patient was at risk of being misdiagnosed.
We cannot tell who is at risk
“Currently we have no reliable way of predicting who is at risk,” explained Dr Clare Marquay, a psychiatrist at the University of Oxford, who led the study.
“We are therefore delighted that this technique using magnetic resonance imaging can be a good marker of early signs of the disease. The first results are very promising.”
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disease that is manifested by tremors and difficulty in moving and performing everyday actions. It comes from a decrease in the cerebral production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter necessary to properly control movements.
