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Neuroimaging

Introduction

Neuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/pharmacology of the brain. It is a relatively new discipline within medicine and neuroscience/psychology.

Neuroimaging falls into two broad categories: structural imaging and functional imaging. Structural imaging deals with the structure of the brain and the diagnosis of gross (large scale) intracranial disease (such as tumour), and injury. Functional imaging is used to diagnose metabolic diseases and lesions on a finer scale (such as Alzheimer's disease) and also for neurological and cognitive psychology research and building brain-computer interfaces. Functional imaging enables, for example, the processing of information by centers in the brain to be visualized directly. Such processing causes the involved area of the brain to increase metabolism and "light up" on the scan.