Clinical Applications of Functional Brain MRI

Abstract Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) has become the most widely used method for imaging normal brain function in a relatively short period of time. The use of FMRI in clinically related research has been much slower; however, FMRI is now becoming a valuable tool in the study of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. This book explains the status of current clinical applications of FMRI in preoperative evaluation, diagnosis and discrimination of pathology, and in understanding recovery, therapeutics and rehabilitation of neurological and psychiatric conditions. Individual chapters cover the use of FMRI in the preoperative assessment of both motor function and language as well as in the assessment of age-related changes in memory. More focused chapters cover the use of FMRI in specific medical conditions including dementia, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders, stroke, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. The book concludes with a chapter on the role of FMRI in monitoring changes in brain function following exposure to clinical pharmacotherapeutics and experimental drug compounds. This book will be of interest to both novice FMRI researchers and expert FMRI scientists as well as to clinicans in neurology, radiology and psychiatry.