Despite glia playing a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, current methods for imaging these cells in vivo present a myriad of limitations. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Silvia de Santis, who introduces a game-changing, noninvasive method for imaging changes in glia morphology using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Dr. De Santis and her team have validated this method in rat models of neuroinflammation, degeneration, and demyelination, demonstrating that diffusion-weighted MRI can provide insights into microglia and astrocyte activation. More importantly, this method has the sensitivity to detect changes in glia morphology and proliferation, enabling a quantitative evaluation of neuroinflammation that is independent of neuronal loss or demyelinating injury.

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