Brain Imaging in Psychiatry

In recent years, neuroimaging techniques in psychiatry have gained increasing importance as affordable and non-invasive assessment tools of value in both research and clinical contexts. Contemporary neuroimaging approaches can be divided into either structural (i.e., computer tomography – CT, structural magnetic resonance imaging – sMRI) or functional modalities (i.e., functional magnetic resonance imaging – fMRI, positron emission tomography – PET-). The present chapter (divided into two main sections) (a) summarizes the most common neuroimaging methods with an emphasis on their main technical features and fields of application, (b) provides a brief overview of specific imaging-based research findings and their contributions toward the understanding of the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. For each of these diseases a summary of the state-of-art knowledge concerning both structural imaging and functional imaging is provided. In the sMRI section, the main loci putatively involved in the pathogenesis of these conditions (in terms of morphological alterations) are pointed out, and current evidence from literature is reported. In the fMRI section, the main research findings derived from functional imaging, aimed to investigate the correlation between activity in certain brain areas and specific mental functions, are summarized.