Imaging brain oxygen metabolism in health and disease

Plasticity is a crucially important property of the brain for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) as it underpins both spontaneous and rehabilitation driven functional recovery. Evidence suggests that brain plasticity may be hampered by tissue energy failure that is associated with MS inflammation and this may limit the potential for functional recovery. This project investigates (i) the effect of inflammation on brain energy metabolism in MS, under the hypothesis that inflammation leads to energy failure, and (ii) the relationship between inflammation-related energy failure and brain plasticity, anticipating that greater levels of inflammation-related energy failure correlate with more inefficient or insufficient plasticity.

To assess the effect of inflammation on brain energetics and the relationship between brain energy failure and plasticity, we propose to study MS patients and matched healthy volunteers using advanced, non-invasive neuroimaging methods at Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC). Functional and structural alterations in the brain before and after a period of motor training will be examined. New functional imaging measures based on MRI assessment of the rate of cerebral metabolic oxygen consumption will be employed; structural measures will be quantified with myelin-sensitive MRI methods on CUBRIC's research-dedicated 3T MRI scanner.

The project would demonstrate the value of new imaging markers of energetic function in MS and suggest new therapeutic targets centred around preventing or reversing energy failure and promoting brain plasticity.