Neuroimaging and mechanisms of brain function in psychiatric disorders

Neuroimaging results from research into schizophrenic and affective disorde rs are reviewed and commented on, including methodological problems and pit falls inherent in interpreting imaging data. The wealth and methodological diversity of neuroimaging data in all fields of psychiatry have led to an e normous amount of findings that cover both gross brain alterations and such minute focal changes as glial reductions in a single Brodmann area. Many o f these findings tend to narrow the traditional gap between neurological an d psychiatric approaches in defining a disease process, Curr Opin Psychiatr y 12:331-337. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.