MRI tagged posts

Example images for a control participant, a deletion carrier, and a duplication carrier. In the sagittal image of the deletion carrier, the thick corpus callosum, dens and craniocervical abnormality, and cerebellar ectopia are shown. For the duplication carrier, the sagittal image shows the thin corpus callosum and the axial image shows the increased ventricle size and decreased white matter volume.
Credit: Radiological Society of North America

In the first major study of its kind, researchers using MRI have identified structural abnormalities in the brains of people with one of the most common genetic causes of autism...

Mapping of cortical fold depths. In green: sulcal pits (the deepest point of each fold). In red: localization of the abnormality detected in autistic children (in Broca’s area). Credit: © SCALP team / INT

Scientists have identified a cerebral marker specific to autism that can be detected by MRI present from 2 yo. The abnormality consists in a less deep fold in Broca’s area, a region of the brain specialized in language and communication, functions that are impaired in autistic patients. This discovery may assist in the earlier diagnosis and management of these patients...

What does inflammation in the context of depression look like inside the brain? Emory researchers have found that high inflammation is linked to a “failure to communicate” between two parts of the brain: the ventral striatum (VS, vertical cross section) and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC, horizontal). Credit: Felger et al, Molecular Psychiatry (2015)

Brain imaging shows distinctive aspects of high-inflammation depression. About 1/3 of people with depression have high levels of inflammation markers in their blood. New research indicates persistent inflammation affects the brain in ways that are connected with stubborn symptoms of depression, such as anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure.

The findings bolster the case that the high-inflammation form of depression is dist...

This is a photo of nano-diamonds using an optical microscope. The purpose is to characterize the size of nano-diamonds. Credit: Photo by Ewa Rej, the University of Sydney

They reveal how a nanoscale, synthetic version of the precious gem can light up early-stage cancers in non-toxic, non-invasive MRI scans. “We knew nano diamonds were of interest for delivering drugs during chemotherapy because they are largely non-toxic and non-reactive,” says Professor Reilly.

“We thought we could build on these non-toxic properties realising that diamonds have magnetic characteristics enabling them to act as beacons in MRIs. We effectively turned a pharmaceutical problem into a physics problem.”

Professor Reilly’s team turned its attention to hyperpolarising nano-diamonds, a process of aligning atoms in...