Considering the aging population, it will be inevitable that—with the current insight and treatment options—neurodegenerative diseases will become one of the main diseases to be dealt with in the near future. For most neurodegenerative disorders, the diagnosis is made clinically, based on the presence of specific symptoms (such as bradykinesia combined with rigidity and/or tremor in PD; [
58]). However, there is a strong need for adequate biomarkers. For instance, at the time of diagnosis, more than 50% of nigrostriatal dopamine neurons have already been lost in PD [
59]. Given that PD likely starts up to 20 years before the diagnosis, the detection of these preclinical stages is especially relevant for the development of neuroprotective treatments [
60]. Furthermore, at the time of diagnosis, it is not always easy to clinically separate different neurodegenerative disorders, such as PD and atypical parkinsonism. Since these different neurodegenerative disorders have different disease trajectories, good biomarkers can help in prognosis. Finally, post-mortem studies have made clear that the pattern of neurodegeneration differs markedly between patients with the same disorder. For example, the integrity of brain stem nuclei differs between PD patients with a tremor-dominant or non-tremor clinical phenotype [
61]. This has led to a search for MRI biomarkers to identify individuals in the preclinical phase [
62], and to differentiate between neurodegenerative disorders or disease subtypes [
63]. In recent years, several structural MRI sequences enabled researchers to image the integrity of small brain stem nuclei, such as the locus coeruleus (LC) and the substantia nigra (SN), for example, using neuromelanin-sensitive imaging, iron mapping, and free water mapping [
64‐
66]. For small regions like the LC, which has the shape and size of a spaghetti noodle, ultra-high-field imaging at 7 T has recently shown that in PD specific subregions are affected (i.e., the caudal more than the rostral portion of the LC) [
67]). Furthermore, 7 T is able to provide a much more fine-grained view of neurodegeneration in specific subregions of the substantia nigra in PD, allowing, e.g., nigrosome imaging [
68,
69]. Such detailed insights are necessary when making inferences about the pathophysiology of PD, such as how pathology spreads through the brain. More specifically, in PD there is recent evidence for a “body-first” versus a “brain-first” initiation of alpha-synucleinopathy, which differs between patients, and which then spreads in a prion-like manner through the rest of the nervous system [
70]. Discerning these patterns in vivo with MRI requires a very high spatial resolution in the order of micrometers, something that is currently only achievable ex vivo using postmortem samples, with acquisition times approximating 15 h, even at 7 T [
71,
72]. At 14 T, this spatial resolution can be achieved in a much shorter acquisition time and will, therefore, be feasible for in vivo imaging, while one can simultaneously make use of the larger image contrast that comes with increasing field strength [
73]. This could provide the necessary anatomical specificity to identify patterns of pathology in subregions of the different brain stem nuclei (e.g., substantia nigra, raphe nuclei, and locus coeruleus), shedding light on the importance of these nuclei from a diagnostic perspective as well as their interaction and role in the early stages of PD. Another interesting player that in recent years has increasingly been recognized as both causal and sustaining factor in neurodegenerative diseases is the immune system [
74]. For instance, in PD, evidence points to immune cells and signaling molecules potentially causing or at least facilitating neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra [
75]. Elucidating the role of the immune system in PD and other neurodegenerative disorders may provide a new, not previously explored path towards better treatment [
74]. Current insights into imaging the immune system will be discussed in the next paragraph.