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Recent quantitative neuroimaging studies have been successful in capturing phenotype and genotype-specific changes in dementia syndromes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. However, the majority of imaging studies are cross-sectional, despite the obvious superiority of longitudinal study designs in characterising disease trajectories, response to therapy, progression rates and evaluating the presymptomatic phase of neurodegenerative conditions.

The aim of this work is to perform a systematic review of longitudinal imaging initiatives in neurodegeneration focusing on methodology, optimal statistical models, follow-up intervals, attrition rates, primary study outcomes and presymptomatic studies.

Longitudinal imaging studies were identified from ‘PubMed’ and reviewed from 1990 to 2014. The search terms ‘longitudinal …