Superficial Siderosis of the Central Nervous System: a Proposal for the Use of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Clinical Research
Open Access
Author:
Ogram, Caitlin M
Area of Honors:
Psychology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. Frank Gerard Hillary, Thesis Supervisor David A. Rosenbaum, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Superficial Siderosis of the Central Nervous System Neurological Disorders Brain Injury
Abstract:
The goal of the current paper is to document the brain and behavioral changes associated with Superficial Siderosis, and to present a proposal for the use of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a method of studying this disorder. Superficial Siderosis constitutes a rare neurological caused by an increase deposition of hemosiderin (an iron-storing complex) in the pia and arachnoid layers of the meningeal tissue. There is little information linking the basic brain changes associated with Siderosis to behavioral correlates.
Cardinal symptoms of Superficial Siderosis include progressive hearing loss, cerebellar ataxia with myelopathy and dementia/memory impairments. The pathogenesis of this disease occurs in the Bergmann glia and microglia of the cerebellum. While most research concerning Superficial Siderosis focuses on the molecular mechanisms of this disease, few studies focus on the neuronal networks and brain activation associated with this disease. A majority of studies instead utilize static, structural imaging techniques to study Superficial Siderosis, including Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The current paper proposes the use of structural and functional imaging, including susceptibility weighted imaging and blood oxygen level dependent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (BOLD fMRI) to investigate brain activation in clinical patients with a positive presentation of Superficial Siderosis.
