Coffman Ja

Magnetic resonance imaging: applications in psychiatry

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a relatively new radiological technique that is especially useful for evaluating brain structure. It offers several major advantages over computerized tomography (CT), the technique that has been most widely used in psychiatry to date and that has provided clear evidence for structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia [1–3]. Unlike CT, MRI does not require the use of ionizing radiation. It permits visualization of the brain in multiple planes including coronal, sagittal, and transverse. It gives impressive gray-white resolution, yielding pictures nearly as anatomically precise as can be seen directly in postmortem brains. It is also highly sensitive to detecting small white matter lesions. It is not subject to bony artifacts and thereby permits excellent visualization of structures in the posterior fossa.