NIMH Pages about Imaging

Publications about Imaging

The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction

This brochure describes changes in the brain that occur during the teen years, and the significance of this stage of development.

Brain Development During Childhood and Adolescence (Fact Sheet)

A fact sheet that describes the past, present and future of research on brain development.

Neuroimaging and Mental Illness: A Window Into the Brain

Researchers use brain scans to study brain development in healthy people and people with illnesses. This publication answers frequently asked questions about what brain scans can and cannot do related to diagnosing mental illnesses.

Science News about Imaging

$40 Million Awarded to Trace Human Brain’s Connections

Press Release • September 15, 2010
The National Institutes of Health today awarded grants totaling $40 million to map the human brain’s connections in high resolution. Better understanding of such connectivity promises improved diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders.

Study Shows Possibilities for Predicting How Patients Will Respond to Antidepressants

Science Update • July 22, 2010
In a study of an experimental treatment for major depression, pretreatment testing to probe the function of a specific brain center predicted how patients would respond to ketamine, a medication that can lift depression rapidly in some people.

Imaging Reveals Abnormal Brain Growth in Toddlers with Fragile X

Science Update • June 08, 2010
Differences in brain growth patterns between preschool-aged boys with Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability, and their healthy peers suggest that the disorder may affect brain development both before and after birth, according to NIMH-funded researchers. In addition, their findings indicate ages 1–5 are an important window for better understanding the effects of FXS on brain development. The study was published May 18, 2010, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Imaging Studies Help Pinpoint Child Bipolar Circuitry  

Science Update • April 08, 2010
A series of imaging studies are revealing that the brain works differently in youth with bipolar disorder (BD) than in chronically irritable children who are often diagnosed with pediatric BD.

Family History of Depression Alters Brain’s Response to Reward and Risk

Science Update • April 06, 2010
Girls at high risk for depression but without current or past clinically significant symptoms showed abnormal brain function related to anticipating and receiving either a reward or loss, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

More Science News about Imaging

Posts about Imaging

December 23, 2011

NIMH’s Top 10 Research Advances of 2011

Posted by Thomas Insel

December 23, 2010

NIMH’s Top 10 Research Events and Advances of 2010

Posted by Thomas Insel

10 breakthroughs and events of 2010 which are changing the way we approach mental disorders.

October 07, 2010

Brain Scans – Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

Posted by Thomas Insel

Despite promising advances as a research tool, brain imaging is not quite ripe for clinical application in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Meeting Summaries about Imaging

The Maturation of Functional Brain Networks: Insight into the Origins and Course of Mental Disorders

January 27, 2011 – January 28, 2011
Washington, D.C.
Neural networks are a fundamental property of normal brain function, and dysregulated brain activity has been implicated in a wide array of mental disorders. In January 2011, NIMH convened a multi-disciplinary workshop of experts to discuss the opportunities and challenges of studying the maturation of neural networks in healthy and clinical populations. The workshop focused on non-invasive research tools, structure-function relationships, typical and atypical development, personalized biomarkers, and developmental connectivity maps.

NIH Workshop on Nonverbal School-Aged Children with Autism

April 13, 2010 – April 14, 2010
Rockville, Maryland
NIH Workshop on Nonverbal School-Aged Children with Autism Meeting Summary

Using Electrophysiological Methods to Understand Neural Mechanisms of, and Treatment Effects in, Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents

September 10, 2009 – September 11, 2009
Bethesda, Maryland
This workshop examined the use of EEG/MEG to understand brain mechanisms of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Participants discussed the advantages of these methods, the limitations, and future directions.

Novel Methods for Examining Prefrontal Interactions with Cortical and Subcortical Systems that Support Complex Mental Function

July 12, 2007
Rockville, Maryland
NIMH sponsored this workshop to identify the gaps in understanding of the anatomical and functional influences of the prefrontal cortex on circuits supporting complex mental functions, and to assess technologies that could enable a more precise understanding of these brain networks.

Optimizing fMRI Approaches to Adolescent Mental Disorders

August 17, 2006 – August 18, 2006
Rockville, Maryland
On August 17–18, 2006, the National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a workshop that brought together researchers involved in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study adolescent mental disorders and normal development, as well as scientists involved in integrating fMRI data with data from other imaging modalities. The goal was to address issues involved in such research toward the goal of optimizing study designs and approaches to improve our understanding of the neural bases of these disorders

More Meeting Summaries about Imaging