Topic Page: Imaging

NIMH Pages About Imaging

Publications About Imaging

The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction
Cover of Teen Brain: Still Under Construction publicationLearn about 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 brain set in an outline of a woman’s profile.A fact sheet that describes the past, present and future of research on brain development.
Neuroimaging and Mental Illness: A Window Into the Brain
Neuroimaging FAQResearchers 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

Mapping Brain Circuits Provides Clues to Schizophrenia, Earlier Detection of Psychosis
Science Update •
prefrontal cortex-basal ganglia circuit

A newly identified brain circuit could lead to earlier detection of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia.

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Brain Imaging Predicts Psychotherapy Success in Patients with Social Anxiety Disorder
Science Update •
fMRI brain scan

Brain imaging might soon predict which treatment options would work best for patients with social phobia.

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NIH Common Fund Announces Awards for Single Cell Analysis
Press Release •
illustration of lighted neurons

NIH plans to invest more than $90 million over five years to accelerate the development and application of single cell analysis across a variety of fields. The goal is to understand what makes individual cells unique and to pave the way for medical treatments.

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NIH Researchers Use Brain Imaging to Understand Genetic Link between Parkinson's and a Rare Disease
Science Update •
PET scans of Gaucher disease and Parkinson's disease

A rare metabolic disorder is helping researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) uncover new clues about the biology underlying Parkinson’s disease.

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Pattern Recognition Technology May Help Predict Future Mental Illness in Teens
Science Update •
MRI machine

Computer programs that automatically spot patterns in data may help predict a person’s risk for future mental disorders.

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Posts About Imaging

Open Data

By Thomas Insel on June 14, 2013

Dr. Insel talks about the value of data sharing and collaboration to promote innovation and scientific discovery.

Brain’s Wiring Revealed in HD

By Thomas Insel on March 30, 2012

Dr. Insel discusses new functional connectomes and developments in human brain imaging.

NIMH’s Top 10 Research Advances of 2011

By Thomas Insel on December 23, 2011

Dr. Insel shares NIMH’s Top 10 Research Advances for 2011.

NIMH’s Top 10 Research Events and Advances of 2010

By Thomas Insel on December 23, 2010

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

Brain Scans – Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

By Thomas Insel on October 07, 2010

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