Neuroradiology

, Volume 52, Issue 8, pp 711–721 | Cite as

The efficacy of a voxel-based morphometry on the analysis of imaging in schizophrenia, temporal lobe epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease/mild cognitive impairment: a review

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Abstract

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) done by means of MRI have provided new insights into the neuroanatomical basis for subjects with several conditions. Recently, VBM has been applied to investigate not only regional volumetric changes but also voxel-wise maps of fractional anisotropy (FA) computed from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The aim of this article is to review the recent work using VBM technique in particular focusing on schizophrenia, temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and Alzheimer's disease (AD)/mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In patients with schizophrenia, VBM approach detects the structural brain abnormalities that appear normal on conventional MRI. Moreover, this technique also has the potential to emerge as a useful clinical tool for early detection and monitoring of disease progression and treatment response in patients with schizophrenia or AD/MCI. In TLE, VBM approach may help elucidate some unresolved important research questions such as how recurrent temporal lobe seizures affect hippocampal and extrahippocampal morphology. Thus, in the future, large cohort studies to monitor whole brain changes on a VBM basis will lead to a further understanding of the neuropathology of several conditions.

Keywords

MRI Voxel-based morphometry Fractional anisotropy Schizophrenia Temporal lobe epilepsy Alzheimer's disease Mild cognitive impairment 
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Notes

Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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© Springer-Verlag 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of RadiologyUniversity of Occupational and Environmental Health School of MedicineKitakyushuJapan

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