Deuterium Metabolic Imaging as a New Window on Glucose Metabolism in Motor Neuron Diseases (2026-2030)

This project will introduce Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) to study how the brain of plMND processes glucose, for the first time in Australia. DMI can safely map glucose metabolism and its downstream products in a single MRI scan, without ionising radiation. I aim to identify excitotoxicity patterns, and detect lactate, which signals a shift towards inefficient anaerobic energy use. By comparing these patterns across different MND subtypes and ALS-FTD vs FTD, this research could provide new insights into biomarkers for early diagnosis and deepen our understanding of the disease processes and the underlying mechanisms driving progression in MND.