Cellular changes in Parkinson's could be revealed by adapting a related technique, known as quantitative MRI (qMRI). A new method enabled researchers to look at microstructures within the part of the deep brain known as the striatum -- an organ which is known to deteriorate during the progress of Parkinson's disease. With a novel method of analysis, biological changes in the cellar tissue of the striatum were clearly revealed and the team was able to demonstrate that these changes were associated with the early stages of Parkinson's and patients' movement dysfunction.