Neuroimaging
The types of imaging techniques that are most prominently utilized when studying and/or diagnosing CBD are:
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
- fluorodopa positron emission tomography (FDOPA PET)
Developments or improvements in imaging techniques provide the future possibility for definitive clinical diagnosis prior to death. However, despite their benefits, information learned from MRI and SPECT during the beginning of CBD progression tend to show no irregularities that would indicate the presence of such a neurodegenerative disease. FDOPA PET is used to study the efficacy of the dopamine pathway.
Despite the undoubted presence of cortical atrophy (as determined through MRI and SPECT) in individuals experiencing the symptoms of CBD, this is not an exclusive indicator for the disease. Thus, the utilization of this factor in the diagnosis of CBD should be used only in combination with other clinically present dysfunctions.
Read more about this topic: Corticobasal Degeneration