MRI Biomarkers in ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disabling and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder. There is no treatment that significantly slows progression. Increasing age is an important risk factor for developing ALS; thus, the societal impact of this devastating disease will become more profound as the population ages. A significant hurdle to finding effective treatment has been an inability to accurately measure brain degeneration in humans. Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques hold promise in this respect, and may assist in aiding diagnosis and the efficient testing of new drugs. Different MRI features of brain degeneration will be measured in a large sample of patients with ALS. The study will operate within the Canadian ALS Neuroimaging Consortium (CALSNIC). CALSNIC is a clinical research platform comprised of ALS clinics with standardized clinical and neuroimaging protocols.

This study will use advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques to measure brain changes in ALS and related neurological conditions. Results from cognitive and neurological tests will be compared to the MRI. It is believed that these techniques will reveal changes in the brain that will help us understand normal brain function and the symptoms of neurological diseases as seen in ALS, as well to provide an objective measurement of degeneration (which is called a biomarker). This could improve not only the process by which new drugs for the treatment of neurological diseases are evaluated, but also how health care professionals address the needs of patients with these diseases. Furthermore, a biomarker may give insight into the biological factors related to the diverse and variable clinical features amongst different patients. Subjects will be recruited from ALS clinics that are a part of the Canadian ALS Neuroimaging Consortium (CALSNIC). Patients will have a diagnosis of ALS, PLS, PMA, or FTD. Healthy controls will be age and gender matched to patients. Subjects will visit their respective sites to undergo a clinical evaluation and an MRI. Follow up visits will occur at approximately 3-6 month intervals. Most subjects will have 2 follow up visits; more visits may occur for subjects who are physically able to continue in the protocol.