Neuroimaging techniques in the courtroom.

2017 ◽  
pp. 111-144
Author(s):  
L. Stephen Miller ◽  
Cutter A. Lindbergh
Keyword(s):  
Neuroimaging Techniques

Recent Advances in Rational Diagnosis and Treatment of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: A Critical Appraisal on Novel Diagnostic, Therapy Monitoring and Treatment Modalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1041-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Zahid Hussain ◽  
Zhuanqin Ren
Keyword(s):  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Therapy Monitoring ◽  
Normal Pressure ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Pharmacological Agents ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Rational Diagnosis ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

Background:Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a critical brain disorder in which excess Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) is accumulated in the brain’s ventricles causing damage or disruption of the brain tissues. Amongst various signs and symptoms, difficulty in walking, slurred speech, impaired decision making and critical thinking, and loss of bladder and bowl control are considered the hallmark features of NPH.Objective:The current review was aimed to present a comprehensive overview and critical appraisal of majorly employed neuroimaging techniques for rational diagnosis and effective monitoring of the effectiveness of the employed therapeutic intervention for NPH. Moreover, a critical overview of recent developments and utilization of pharmacological agents for the treatment of hydrocephalus has also been appraised.Results:Considering the complications associated with the shunt-based surgical operations, consistent monitoring of shunting via neuroimaging techniques hold greater clinical significance. Despite having extensive applicability of MRI and CT scan, these conventional neuroimaging techniques are associated with misdiagnosis or several health risks to patients. Recent advances in MRI (i.e., Sagittal-MRI, coronal-MRI, Time-SLIP (time-spatial-labeling-inversion-pulse), PC-MRI and diffusion-tensor-imaging (DTI)) have shown promising applicability in the diagnosis of NPH. Having associated with several adverse effects with surgical interventions, non-invasive approaches (pharmacological agents) have earned greater interest of scientists, medical professional, and healthcare providers. Amongst pharmacological agents, diuretics, isosorbide, osmotic agents, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, glucocorticoids, NSAIDs, digoxin, and gold-198 have been employed for the management of NPH and prevention of secondary sensory/intellectual complications.Conclusion:Employment of rational diagnostic tool and therapeutic modalities avoids misleading diagnosis and sophisticated management of hydrocephalus by efficient reduction of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) production, reduction of fibrotic and inflammatory cascades secondary to meningitis and hemorrhage, and protection of brain from further deterioration.

The Value of Neuroimaging Techniques in the Translation and Transdiagnostic Validation of Psychiatric Diagnoses - Selective Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 540-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Todeva-Radneva ◽  
Rositsa Paunova ◽  
Sevdalina Kandilarova ◽  
Drozdstoy St. Stoyanov
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Main Concept ◽  
Directional Change ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

: Psychiatric diagnosis has long been perceived as more of an art than a science since its foundations lie within the observation, and the self-report of the patients themselves and objective diagnostic biomarkers are lacking. Furthermore, the diagnostic tools in use not only stray away from the conventional medical framework but also remain invalidated with evidence-based concepts. However, neuroscience, as a source of valid objective knowledge has initiated the process of a paradigm shift underlined by the main concept of psychiatric disorders being “brain disorders”. It is also a bridge closing the explanatory gap among the different fields of medicine via the translation of the knowledge within a multidisciplinary framework. : The contemporary neuroimaging methods, such as fMRI provide researchers with an entirely new set of tools to reform the current status quo by creating an opportunity to define and validate objective biomarkers that can be translated into clinical practice. Combining multiple neuroimaging techniques with the knowledge of the role of genetic factors, neurochemical imbalance and neuroinflammatory processes in the etiopathophysiology of psychiatric disorders is a step towards a comprehensive biological explanation of psychiatric disorders and a final differentiation of psychiatry as a well-founded medical science. : In addition, the neuroscientific knowledge gained thus far suggests a necessity for directional change to exploring multidisciplinary concepts, such as multiple causality and dimensionality of psychiatric symptoms and disorders. A concomitant viewpoint transition of the notion of validity in psychiatry with a focus on an integrative validatory approach may facilitate the building of a collaborative bridge above the wall existing between the scientific fields analyzing the mind and those studying the brain.

Current perspectives on neuroimaging techniques used to identify stroke mimics in clinical practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Shadi El-Wahsh ◽  
Sophie Dunkerton ◽  
Timothy Ang ◽  
Hugh Stephen Winters ◽  
Candice Delcourt
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Stroke Mimics ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

scholarly journals Pain-Related Brain Connectivity Changes in Migraine: A Narrative Review and Proof of Concept about Possible Novel Treatments Interference

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 234
Author(s):  
Marina de Tommaso ◽  
Eleonora Vecchio ◽  
Silvia Giovanna Quitadamo ◽  
Gianluca Coppola ◽  
Antonio Di Renzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vascular System ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Brain Dysfunction ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Neuronal Dysfunction ◽  
Case Control Studies ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Novel Treatments ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

A neuronal dysfunction based on the imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory cortical-subcortical neurotransmission seems at the basis of migraine. Intercritical neuronal abnormal excitability can culminate in the bioelectrical phenomenon of Cortical Spreading Depression (CSD) with secondary involvement of the vascular system and release of inflammatory mediators, modulating in turn neuronal activity. Neuronal dysfunction encompasses the altered connectivity between the brain areas implicated in the genesis, maintenance and chronic evolution of migraine. Advanced neuroimaging techniques allow to identify changes in functional connectivity (FC) between brain areas involved in pain processes. Through a narrative review, we re-searched case-control studies on FC in migraine, between 2015 and 2020, by inserting the words migraine, fMRI, EEG, MEG, connectivity, pain in Pubmed. Studies on FC have shown that cortical processes, in the neurolimbic pain network, are likely to be prevalent for triggering attacks, in response to predisposing factors, and that these lead to a demodulation of the subcortical areas, at the basis of migraine maintenance. The link between brain dysfunction and peripheral interactions through the inhibition of CGRP, the main mediator of sterile migraine inflammation needs to be further investigated. Preliminary evidence could suggest that peripheral nerves inference at somatic and trigeminal levels, appears to change brain FC.

scholarly journals The impacts of cognitive-behavioral therapy on the treatment of phobic disorders measured by functional neuroimaging techniques: a systematic review

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Galvao-de Almeida ◽  
Gerardo Maria de Araujo Filho ◽  
Arthur de Almeida Berberian ◽  
Clarissa Trezsniak ◽  
Fabiana Nery-Fernandes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral ◽  
Phobic Disorders ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

scholarly journals Pain Detection and the Privacy of Subjective Experience

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 433-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Kolber
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Medical Evidence ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Pain Symptoms ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

A neurologist with abdominal pain goes to see a gastroenterologist for treatment. The gastroenterologist asks the neurologist where it hurts. The neurologist replies, “In my head, of course.” Indeed, while we can feel pain throughout much of our bodies, pain signals undergo most of their processing in the brain. Using neuroimaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (“fMRI”) and positron emission tomography (“PET”), researchers have more precisely identified brain regions that enable us to experience physical pain. Certain regions of the brain's cortex, for example, increase in activation when subjects are exposed to painful stimuli. Furthermore, the amount of activation increases with the intensity of the painful stimulus. These findings suggest that we may be able to gain insight into the amount of pain a particular person is experiencing by non-invasively imaging his brain.Such insight could be particularly valuable in the courtroom where we often have no definitive medical evidence to prove or disprove claims about the existence and extent of pain symptoms.

Neurocomics and Neuroimaging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Tougaw
Keyword(s):  
Brain Research ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Brain Images ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Graphic Narratives ◽  
Novel Methods ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Cultural Responses ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

This chapter examines a small number of recent graphic brain narratives that experiment with novel methods of visualizing the brain—including David B.’s Epileptic, Ellen Forney’s Marbles, and Matteo Farinella and Hana Ros’s Neurocomic. Tougaw argues that these narratives both draw from and challenge cultural responses to high-profile neuroimaging techniques, including PET and fMRI. Graphic narratives are a subcultural genre celebrated for their rebellious aesthetics and emphasis on narratives that challenge mainstream social and political assumptions. Brain scanning technologies are highly specialized tools that have revolutionized brain research and gained considerable mainstream attention. The mainstreaming of these technologies oversimplifies the images they produce, creating a widely held sense that they offer direct access to the brains they visualize. By contrast, graphic narratives put heavy emphasis on the aesthetic process involved in their making of brain images. While careful not to minimize these differences, the chapter argues that key similarities between neurocomics and neuroimaging techniques can be a means for clarifying the roles played by the sciences and the humanities in the cultural laboratory of contemporary neuromania.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document