BRAIN IMAGING SCHIZOPHRENIA

Neuroimaging provides an unprecedented means by which to study psychia tric disorders. Structural imaging methods, i.e. computerized tomograp hy (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have revealed subtle dif ferences in the brains of schizophrenic patients that appear to be pre sent before symptom onset. Radionuclide functional methods such as sin gle photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) have led to hypotheses about dysfunction in specific neuronal networks in schizophrenia. New advances in MRT allow function al data to be obtained noninvasively in a single individual using conv entional MRI scanners. This chapter discusses the parallels between th e historical technical developments in neuroimaging and the deepening understanding of the etiology and manifestations of schizophrenia.