a a a  Imaging Provides Insight, Leaves Room for More  By Guy
McKhann, M.D. May 11, 2007   —Ralph Waldo Emerson  Dr. Guy
McKhann Guy McKhann, M.D.  Two articles in the April print
edition of Brain in the News show how far we have come—and where
we may go next.  Some background is helpful. Early advances in
imaging allowed us to analyze the structure of the brain. Not
too many years ago, we all oohed and aahed over the structural
outlines of the normal and abnormal brain we saw first with
computerized tomography imaging, then with magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI).  In more recent times, the outlining of fiber
pathways by diffusion tensor imaging and detection of new areas
of vascular damage in the brain by diffusion weighted imaging
have been added to our toolkit for looking at brain structure.
Currently we are evaluating, by both MRI and positron emission
tomography (PET), whether we can diagnose and follow diseases in
which abnormal products accumulate in the brain, such as the
accumulation of amyloid in Alz