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Neuropsychol Rev (2007) 17:103106 DOI 10.1007/s11065-007-9027-9
EDITORIAL
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Clinical Practice: Look Before You Leap
Gregory G. Brown
Received: 22 March 2007 / Accepted: 24 March 2007 / Published online: 3 May 2007
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Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007
It has been only about a decade and a half since the rst human studies reported on the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to map the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response associated with neural activation (Bandetinni et al., 1992; Frahm et al., 1992; Kwong et al., 1992; Ogawa et al., 1992). Since 1992, there has been a rapid growth of studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study normal and disordered function. A search of PubMed papers from 1992 to the present reveals just under 4,000 papers identied by the search terms functional magnetic resonance imaging and cognition and nearly 1,300 papers for the terms functional magnetic resonance imaging and emotion. Although some of these papers focused on structural brain imaging and daily function, while others were review articles, the large majority of these papers presented original fMRI data. The breadth of application of fMRI is as impressive as its frequent use in published studies. Researchers have used fMRI not only to study classical brain functions, but also deception, the inference of intention, self-concept, phantom pain, the inuence of culture on charitable donations, socioeconomic deprivation, and persistent vegetative state. Moreover, investigators are using fMRI to provide information about applied problems in law, economics, and marketing.
This issue of Neuropsychology Review focuses on the use of fMRI in clinical practice. As readers will see in the
G. G. BrownDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
G. G. Brown ([envelopeback])
Psychology Service (MC 116B), VA San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive,La Jolla, California 92161, USAe-mail: [email protected]
following papers, fMRI is being used to identify disease risk, predict conversion to a clinical state, augment surgical planning, monitor rehabilitation outcome, and assist in drug development. In all of these settings, fMRI is used as an assessment tool. As an assessment method, fMRI must meet the same rigorous criteria of validity, reliability, standardization, and normative description met by conventional neuropsychological tests.
Validity
Functional MRI is...