CA24118 - Advancing human brainstem MRI and its application in clinical research and practice (ImagingBrainstemHealth)

The brainstem, the phylogenetically oldest part of our brain, has traditionally been considered beyond the realm of standard brain imaging due to its small size and complex anatomical layout with a multitude of small structures. A particular vulnerability of brainstem structures characterizes the pre-symptomatic phase of many neurodegenerative conditions, rendering brainstem imaging an important tool for prodromal biomarkers. Moreover, dysfunctions in brainstem activity characterize a wide range of psychiatric or neurophysiological disorders but can currently not be considered for personalized treatments. Recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now render the human brainstem accessible also in standard clinical imaging setups. However, knowledge of and the ability to image the brainstem is still relatively sparse in clinical brain research. This disconnect between research developments and their clinical translation comes at a potentially enormous price, as assessing the brainstem in humans holds great promise for improved diagnoses and treatments of various pertinent health conditions in Europe. The Action will create a multidisciplinary network to facilitate and extend the use of brainstem MRI in clinical research and practice. It will a) establish a dialogue between methods development and clinical applications to define best practices suitable for clinical research and practice; b) train clinicians and young researchers to use advanced brainstem MRI; c) harmonize methods to establish big datasets across various clinical conditions; and d) establish the multidisciplinary research network necessary to support methods development for mapping currently uncharted areas of the brainstem and establishing new and reliable brainstem MRI biomarkers.