Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Increasingly it is also being used for quantitative research studies of brain disease and psychiatric illness. Neuroimaging is highly multidisciplinary involving neuroscience, computer science, psychology and statistics, and is not a medical specialty. Neuroimaging is sometimes confused with neuroradiology.
| Neuroimaging | |
|---|---|
Para-sagittal MRI of the head in a patient with benign familial macrocephaly | |
| Purpose | Indirectly (directly) image structure, function/pharmacology of the nervous system |
Neuroradiology is a medical specialty and uses non-statistical brain imaging in a clinical setting, practiced by radiologists who are medical practitioners. Neuroradiology primarily focuses on recognising brain lesions, such as vascular disease, strokes, tumors and inflammatory disease. In contrast to neuroimaging, neuroradiology is qualitative (based on subjective impressions and extensive clinical training) but sometimes uses basic quantitative methods. Functional brain imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are common in neuroimaging but rarely used in neuroradiology. Neuroimaging falls into two broad categories:
- Structural imaging, which is used to quantify brain structure using e.g., voxel based morphometry.
- Functional imaging, which is used to study brain function, often using fMRI and other techniques such as PET and MEG (see below).