Biomarkers and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Promising Inroads Toward a Distant Goal

A major emphasis in the fi eld of neurodegenerative diseases has been the identifi cation of reliable and disease-specifi c biomarkers (neuroimaging, biochemical, molecular). The immediate need of defi ning and assessing biomarkers is to provide clinicians and research scientists with information on the nature of the disorders. The long-term goals include biomarker quantitation to: define disease progression, provide insight for the pathogenic mechanisms, establish and monitor the effects of therapeutic interventions. Neurodegenerative diseases can be divided into those that are associated with dementia such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Prion Diseases (PD), dementia with Lewy Bodies, frontotemporal dementia, and most SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Departments of Neurology and Physiology/Pharmacology, Box #1213, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11203, USA.