ADRC MR Development Protocol

The primary goals of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Imaging Core include providing state-of-the-art imaging of the clinical core participants and cutting-edge MRI sequence options and analysis approaches to the ADRC investigators. In the often fast-paced field of imaging neuroscience, it is necessary to test and tune new methodologies before adopting them more broadly in our clinical protocols. The purpose of this study is to evaluate, compare and optimize MRI scanner performance as a function of pulse sequences, scanning parameters, image reconstruction or analysis approach. The expected outcome is to improve ADRC-linked imaging studies by enhancing sensitivity to disease effects, decreasing measurement variance and translating new methodologies into usable techniques. This protocol may be used to evaluate imaging protocols, sequence parameters, product or research pulse sequences, and ancillary hardware and software for functional imaging presentation and response, and physiologic monitoring. This protocol may also be used to investigate the variability of the imaging measures over time and between scanners at Waisman, WIMR, and the CSC.