Multiple Sclerosis research: the thalamus moves into the spotlight

Image of a composite of the thalamus of healthy controls and MS patients.

This 3D view shows a composite of the thalamus of healthy controls (outlined in red) and MS patients (magenta). The whole thalamus is generally smaller in MS due to atrophy, and is also shifted (as seen in blue) slightly beyond the position of the normal thalamus due to atrophy of other parts of the brain.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A growing body of research by multiple sclerosis (MS) investigators at the University at Buffalo and international partners is providing powerful new evidence that the brain’s gray matter reflects important changes in the disease that could allow clinicians to diagnose earlier and to better monitor and predict how the disease will progress.

Over the past three years, the UB researchers and their partners around the world, supported by an active fellowship program at UB’s Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC), have published journal papers and given presentations demonstrating that the thalamus region, in particular, is key to a host of issues involving MS.

“The thalamus is providing us with a new window on MS,” says Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, UB professor of neurology, BNAC director and leader of the research team. “In our recent studies, we have used large datasets to investigate the evolution of atrophy of the thalamus and its association with clinical impairment in MS, starting with the earliest stages of the disease. The location of the thalamus in the brain, its unique function and its vulnerability to changes wrought by the disease make the thalamus a critical barometer of the damage that MS causes to the brain.”

Zivadinov and UB professor of neurology Ralph Benedict discuss the new research in a video at (http://youtu.be/QhsaHeBjZrA).

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Multiple Sclerosis research: the thalamus moves into the spotlight

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