Neuroimaging in late-life mood disorders.

Abstract

Neuroanatomical and physiological imaging provide unprecedented opportunities to examine the biological substrates of major mental disorders such as late life major depression (MDD). Studies using positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) demonstrate focal and global abnormalities in patients with MDD when compared with controls. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows us to examine specific neuroanatomical perturbations in depression and to study the impact of comorbid medical disorders on brain structure and function. These technologies have the potential to provide biological information critical to a better understanding and conceptualization of the neuroscientific basis and treatment of the major mental disorders in late life.