Effects of Huntington's Disease on white matter
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effects of Huntington's Disease on white matter microstructure
IRAS ID
236476
Contact name
Claudia Metzler-Baddeley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited, progressive, neurodegenerative disease. Its clinical onset is defined by impairments in motor functions. However, in many cases, deficits in cognition, such as impairments in attention, verbal fluency and memory are present prior to any motor symptoms. Currently, this devastating disease cannot be cured, hence the importance of understanding its pathogenesis and of providing biomarkers for the efficacy of targeted therapies. Evidence shows that HD leads to white matter (WM) degeneration even before the onset of clinical symptoms, and emphasises the potential of quantitative MRI metrics to inform about disease pathogenesis. However, MRI correlates of WM impairment remain relatively unexplored in HD compared to other neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, the purpose of the present research project is to investigate HD-related effects on WM microstructure, by employing novel quantitative MRI techniques and using the MRI Connectom system at CUBRIC, one of only three MRI systems in the world that allow in-detail investigation of white matter microstructure.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
18/WA/0172
Date of REC Opinion
18 May 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion