Towards PET Scan Detection of α-Synuclein for Early Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease Researchers here note recent progress towards assessment of the burden of misfolded α-synuclein in a living brain via contrast imaging. This would provide a way to reliably diagnose Parkinson's disease in advance of symptoms. Unlike imaging for the protein aggregates associated with Alzheimer's disease, this is not an established capability. It seems likely that imaging approaches will fade in importance in the years ahead, however, as blood assays with a much lower cost are now demonstrated to be able to detect neurodegenerative diseases in their earliest stages. The abnormal accumulation of α-synuclein protein is a defining pathological feature of several neurodegenerative conditions collectively known as synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DL. Until recently, confirming the presence […]
https://www.fightaging.org/arc....hives/2025/05/toward