fMRI in Neurodegenerative Diseases: From Scientific Insights to Clinical Applications

fMRI is a technology with great promise as a tool to probe abnormalities of brain activity and connectivity in neurodegenerative diseases. The detection of functional brain changes may be useful, in the appropriate clinical context, for early diagnosis, differential diagnosis, or prognostication. Prediction of response to treatment or therapeutic monitoring may also be possible with fMRI. In addition, fMRI has the potential to provide a variety of scientific insights that may have clinical relevance, including compensatory hyperactivation of brain circuits or genetic modulation of functional brain activity.