Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) News and Research

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a large magnet and radio waves to look at organs and structures inside your body. Health care professionals use MRI scans to diagnose a variety of conditions, from torn ligaments to tumors. MRIs are very useful for examining the brain and spinal cord. Also called: Magnetic resonance imaging, NMR, Nuclear magnetic resonance.

Teenage brains being changed by the digital revolution

The digital revolution appears to be changing the adolescent brain to enable it to cope with constant technological stimulation, says visiting U.S. adolescent brain researcher Dr Jay Giedd.

6 Sep 2012

MRI lesions match site of recent-onset inflammatory back pain

Patients with recent inflammatory back pain who undergo examination with magnetic resonance imaging typically show inflammation at the site of their pain, a study confirms.

3 Sep 2012

MRI detects high prevalence of abnormalities associated with knee osteoarthritis

A study conducted by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected a high prevalence of abnormalities associated with knee osteoarthritis in middle-aged and elderly patients that had no evidence of knee osteoarthritis in X-ray images.

1 Sep 2012

Study may spur research into multi-model imaging based biomarker development for AD

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common brain disorders, with an estimated 35 million people affected worldwide. In the last decade, research has advanced our understanding of how AD affects the brain. However, diagnosis continues to rely primarily on neuropsychological tests which can only detect the disease after clinical symptoms begin. In a supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, investigators report on the development of imaging-based biomarkers that will have an impact on diagnosis before the disease process is set in motion.

31 Aug 2012

Alcohol can cause more than one pattern of birth defects

A collaborative research effort by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Duke University, and University College of London in the UK, sheds new light on alcohol-related birth defects.

23 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates MRI role in defining and understanding causes of MS

New magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research shows that changes in brain blood flow associated with vein abnormalities are not specific for multiple sclerosis (MS) and do not contribute to its severity, despite what some researchers have speculated. Results of the research are published online in the journal Radiology.

21 Aug 2012

Pulvinar regulates communication between clusters of brain cells

A mysterious region deep in the human brain could be where we sort through the onslaught of stimuli from the outside world and focus on the information most important to our behavior and survival, Princeton University researchers have found.

18 Aug 2012

Early MRI scans for acute lower back injury may lead to increased disability

If you've recently hurt your back on the job, getting a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan won't increase your chances of a good recovery, suggests a study in the August 15 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

17 Aug 2012

Sophisticated brain scans can accurately predict age

It isn't uncommon for people to pass for ages much older or younger than their years, but researchers have now found that this feature doesn't apply to our brains. The findings reported online on August 16 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that sophisticated brain scans can be used to accurately predict age, give or take a year.

17 Aug 2012

Febrile seizures increase hippocampal injury risk

Children with febrile status epilepticus are at risk for hippocampal injury and show abnormalities in the development of this brain area, show findings from a prospective multicenter study.

16 Aug 2012

Short-term intervention alters neural architecture of stutterers

A short-term intervention in patients who stutter can help reorganize the intrinsic functional architecture of speech–language processes, a Chinese study shows.

15 Aug 2012

New 3-D view of the body's response to infection

A new 3-D view of the body's response to infection - and the ability to identify proteins involved in the response - could point to novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for infectious diseases.

13 Aug 2012

Effects on white matter brain volume from long-term alcoholism are different for men and women

(Boston) - Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System have demonstrated that the effects on white matter brain volume from long-term alcohol abuse are different for men and women. The study, which is published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, also suggests that with abstinence, women recover their white matter brain volume more quickly than men.

12 Aug 2012

Novel model may allow clinicians to predict potential for recovery after SCI

For more than 1 million people in the U.S. living with spinal cord injury, the frightening days and weeks following the injury are filled with uncertainty about their potential for recovery and future independence. A new model based on motor scores at admission and early imaging studies may allow clinicians to predict functional outcomes and guide decision-making for therapy and care-giving needs, as described in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

9 Aug 2012

Diagnostic imaging in stage IV cancer on the rise

Diagnostic imaging in elderly patients with stage IV cancer has increased significantly in recent years, while its use among those with early-stage disease has decreased, suggest study findings.

6 Aug 2012

Corpus callosum abnormalities in BD patients

Patients with bipolar disorder show area reductions in the genu and isthmus subregions of the corpus callosum compared with mentally healthy controls, researchers report.

3 Aug 2012

Schizophrenia brain changes 'due to disease rather than genes’

The brain abnormalities observed in patients with schizophrenia are primarily due to processes associated with the disease itself or its treatment, as opposed to being caused by genetic factors, the results of a Dutch study indicate.

1 Aug 2012

Brain injury patterns predict outcomes in oxygen-starved infants

Patterns of brain injury in babies with neonatal hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy predict survival and disability in late infancy, show study findings.

31 Jul 2012

MEG-MRI combined device for mapping the human brain

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have developed the world's first device designed for mapping the human brain that combines whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. MEG measures the electrical function and MRI visualizes the structure of the brain. The merging of these two technologies will produce unprecedented accuracy in locating brain electrical activity non-invasively.

27 Jul 2012