Novel imaging technique detects gray matter thinning

"They found that the overall thickness of the cortex was reduced in MS subjects vs. controls, although significant differences were only seen in MS subjects with disease duration of three years or more. They also found that disease duration and disability correlated with the location of cortical atrophy: MS subjects with mild or moderate disability tended to have areas of atrophy in the frontal and temporal (side) regions, whereas subjects with severe disability or longer disease duration also exhibited areas of thinning in the motor cortex.

It is encouraging to know that scientists are creating new ways to understand what is actually happening in the brain in MS. Continued development and use of these techniques will eventually give us a much clearer picture of the sequence of events in MS, and also hopefully lead to methods of halting these events."