text_1: Brain scans may help diagnose neurological, psychiatric disorders
text_2: This news release reports findings from a study of functional MRI (fcMRI) scans in which researchers analyzed data from more than 10 hours of fcMRI scans on each of nine people. During the scans, each person performed a variety of tasks to determine the extent to which their behaviors altered the picture of their brain activity. The researchers found that each person’s brain imaging changed little from day-to-day or task-to-task. That is, the brain scans appeared to reflect fundamental, stable features of the brain. The release suggests that, based on these findings, its possible to use this type of brain scan to diagnose individual traits or diseases. That is very premature. Diagnostic tests have yet to be developed. The release headline promises more than the news release delivers, and there’s a real question as to whether this information is useful to the public, or just misleading. The heading of this news release proclaims hopefully that “Brain scans may help diagnose neurological, psychiatric disorders.”  Whereas at present depression, bipolar disorder, and many other mental illnesses can only be diagnosed based on self-reported symptoms or observations of behavior, this release suggests we are on the verge of being able to diagnose these conditions via a particular type of MRI. However, the study referred to simply laid the groundwork for research testing whether functional networks in individuals’ brains are relatively stable over time. Diagnostic applications remain to be developed.