E-grāmata: Neuroimaging Research in Geriatric Mental Health

After introducing the National Institute of Mental Health agenda emphasizing translational research toward curing mental illness, Aizenstein (psychiatry, U. of Pittsburgh) provides information on integrative conceptual models and innovative imaging tools and techniques toward that goal. Focusing on geriatric patients with age-related cognitive decline, Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, and late-life schizophrenia, contributors present a primer on structural and functional imaging modalities (e.g., MRI, fMRI, MRS, PET, SPECT), and examine these disorders in comparison with brain changes associated with normal aging. They also discuss software packages for neuroimaging processing, and implications for younger patients and those with depression secondary to neuropsychiatric or medical disorders. The volume features examples and summary tables of neuroimaging studies. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The effect of aging on brain function has become a topic of great interest in psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and gerontology over the past decade. Current research has fundamentally changed how the aging process is viewed. No longer is it consider inevitable that cognitive declines begin at middle age; the majority of elderly undergo a perfectly normal aging process that produces relatively benign changes in cognitive abilities. However, it is also understood that a minority of the elderly population can expect to suffer through an "abnormal aging" process which significantly increases the likelihood of cognitive impairment and dementia. For example, by comparison to young and middle aged adults, older adults are significantly more vulnerable to depression, mania, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and dementias such as Alzheimer's Disease. It is now generally believed that by exploring the neurobiological basis of these patient populations, scientists can begin to understand why abnormal aging happens and what can be done to treat it.

This volume, the first book to apply the brain imaging techniques of neuroscience to the geriatric population, examines the state-of-the-art in our understanding of the aging brain. Edited by a key figure in functional magnetic resonance imaging, the book focuses on specific populations and clinical syndromes.