NEUROIMAGING BIOMARKERS IN PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

Abstract

Incorporating neuroimage indicators into psychiatric diagnoses takes mental health precision medicine to the next level.  This paper employed a mixed method research design to examine the value of, imaging features that use MRI as an imaging modality in diagnosis and treatment of severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorders.  General linear models and principal component analysis were used to seek associations between measures of clinical severity indexes and quantitative imaging data obtained with fMRI, DTI, and structural MRI.  They found out that the connections between imaging characteristics (including thinner cortical thickness and poor white matter integrity) and symptom severity were strong.  Meanwhile, qualitative interviews with psychiatrists and radiologists demonstrated that, when disciplines collaborate, both practical and interpretive problems can be more apparent, and diagnosis can be made more transparent, and treatment decision making can be facilitated.  The findings affirm the potential of neuroimaging biomarkers as an important aspect of the psychiatric assessments and a strategy involving the precision of radiology and expertise of psychiatry should be adopted.  This collaborative model does not only contribute to more accurate diagnoses, but also preconditions the introduction of individualized methods of care at the psyche.