neuroimaging

A set of experimental techniques used by neuroscientists. The goal of these techniques is to obtain interesting or at least pretty pictures of the brain that tell you something about how your brain works.

These methods include PET, MRI, fMRI, SPECT, MRS, DTI and to a lesser extent EEG and MEG. The people that do neuroimaging tend to be a curious mix of physicists, neuroscientists, psychologists, radiologists, statisticicans and other shameless acronym fiends.

Neuroimaging refers to a variety of techniques used to make pictures of the Central Nervous System. There are two general types of neuroimaging: functional neuroimaging and structural neuroimaging.

Functional Neuroimaging:

Functional neuroimaging is used to find out what areas of the brain are active at a particular time. It is usually combined with a particular task. For example, a neuroscientist studying language development in children might use a functional neuroimaging technique to find out which neurons respond to a particular language sound.

Functional neuroimaging techniques:

• Positron Emission Tomography (PET,PET Scan)
• functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)
• Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS)
• Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
• Electroencephalography (EEG)

Structural Neuroimaging:

Structural neuroimaging is used to look at the structure of the brain. It is often used to locate tumors and areas involved in brain damage.

Structural neuroimaging techniques:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Computed (Axial) Tomography (CT Scan)
• Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

Sometimes functional and structural neuroimages will be overlapped to assist in their interpretation.