Application of Neuroimaging Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Diseases, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on recent advances in the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of mental diseases. In recent years, the field has made extraordinary efforts to identify imaging biomarkers as potential tools to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental diseases. For example, different studies have attempted to use neuroimaging biomarkers for treatment responses in psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorders, using brain volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (resting-state and affective tasks), diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy and molecular imaging (i.e., positron emission tomography and single-photon emission computed tomography). Some plausible regions for therapeutic responses in major depressive disorders with their subsequent activation or structural normalization effects after treatment have emerged, namely the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and insula. However, issues related to sample size and differences in imagining techniques have had inconclusive findings.

Potentially, the use of neuroimaging biomarkers can be clinically useful in also being applied to new biostatistical methods, including machine learning. This integration of artificial intelligence into 1H-MRS and 31P-MRS Brain Spectroscopy data could be pivotal concerning personalized medicine. Consequently, this would allow us not only to evaluate treatment outcomes and to develop new treatment strategies enable us to tailor impactful treatment strategies to improve patients’ overall wellbeing.

In this Special Issue, we welcome preclinical and clinical studies that underscore the application of neuroimaging biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of mental diseases as potential biomarkers. Our aim is to provide a better understanding of the pathophysiology and effective ways to personalize treatment in mental diseases.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Pharmaceuticals.

Prof. Dr. Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd
Dr. Douglas Kondo
Dr. Nicolas A Nunez
Dr. Perry Franklin Renshaw
Prof. Dr. Dost Öngür
Guest Editors

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