Developing retinal biomarkers of neurological disease: an analytical perspective
Open accessAbstract
The inaccessibility of the brain poses a problem for neuroscience. Scientists have traditionally responded by developing biomarkers for brain physiology and disease. The retina is an attractive source of biomarkers since it shares many features with the brain. Some even describe the retina as a 'window' to the brain, implying that retinal signs are analogous to brain disease features. However, new analytical methods are needed to show whether or not retinal signs really are equivalent to brain abnormalities, since this requires greater evidence than direct associations between retina and brain. We, therefore propose a new way to think about, and test, how clearly one might see the brain through the retinal window, using cerebral malaria as a case study.
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The retina is a "window to the brain," and the manifestation of disease in the brain is the same as in the retina.
“Thus, it has been described that the retina is a “window to the brain,” and the manifestation of disease in the brain is the same as in the retina (MacCormick et al., 2015).”
From The role of microglia in retinal neurodegeneration: Alzheimer’s disease, parkinson, and glaucoma. (2017) · cites this paper as MacCormick et al., 2015
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Flagged first, then by citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The role of microglia in retinal neurodegeneration: Alzheimer’s disease, parkinson, and glaucoma.
Ramirez, A. I., de Hoz, R., Salobrar-Garcia, E., Salazar, J. J., Rojas, B., Ajoy, D., López-Cuenca, I., Rojas, P., Triviño, A., & Ramírez, J. M. (2017) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00214 · Cited by 466 · see citing works
- Authors
- MacCormick, I. J., Czanner, G., & Faragher, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Corresponding author
- MacCormick, Ian JC
- Venue
- Biomarkers in Medicine
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 691-701
- ISSN
- 1752-0363 (ISSN-L)
- 1752-0371
- PMC
- PMC4822679
- OpenAlex
- W2191829633
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 2.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2015-09-01)
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Biomarkers in Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- LSTM Online Archive (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- The Wellcome Trust ((grant number 092668/Z/10/Z; core grant number 084679/Z/08/Z))
- Clinical Eye Research Centre, St. Paul’s Eye Unit
- Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Retinal Imaging and Analysis
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Ophthalmology › Ophthalmology and Visual Health Research
- Keywords
- retinal biomarkers, cerebral malaria, neurological disorders, retinal imaging, brain disease diagnosis
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Brain Diseases, Humans, Retina, Biomarkers, Malaria, Cerebral
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