CHAPTER 8
Ruling Out Other Things
PART 1
How do doctors image the brain?
Neuroimaging relies on a variety of different techniques, including radiation and magnetic fields, to generate pictures of what is going on inside the brain. These methods can visualize microscopic physical structures or capture the activity of individual cells.PART 2
CT
These scans generate "slices" of the brain. A rotating ring sends X-rays toward and through the body to collect information on film. A computer collates the information into images that doctors can view.Doctors may use CT scans to make sure that a person with memory problems does not have a tumor or evidence of a stroke.
PART 3
MRI (MR)
The MR scanner’s strong magnetic field forces hydrogen atoms in body water and fat to line up along the same axis as our spine, from head to toe. Radio waves that target hydrogen join in, forcing some of these hydrogen atoms to absorb the energy, pulse, and spin in opposite directions. When the magnets are turned on and off rapidly, the spinning cells emit energy. These variations in energy readings are converted by a computer into images.Doctors can use MR scans to identify tumors and strokes as well as to evaluate shrinkage in different brain regions.
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theVisualMD Wishes to Thank our Scientific Collaborators:
- Jeffrey Cummings, MD
Director, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center of Brain Health, Las Vegas - Stephen Salloway, MD, MS
Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry Alpert Medical School of Brown University - Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD
Director, Alzheimer`s Center VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Reisa Sperling, MD
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School - Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD
Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease Massachusetts General Hospital - Audrey Chun, MD
Medical Director, Martha Stewart Center for Living Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York - Bradley Hyman, MD, PhD
John B Penney Jr Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School Director, Massachusetts Alzheimer Disease Research Center Massachusetts General Hospital - University of Pittsburgh Amyloid Imaging Group
- John H. Morrison, PhD
Dean of Basic Sciences and the Graduate School of Biological Sciences Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Director, Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories Mount Sinai School of Medicine - Brad Dickerson, MD
Harvard University - Mony John de Leon
Professor, Director Center of Brain Health, Department of Psychiatry, Langone Medical Center, New York University - Ramon Figueroa, MD
Georgia Health Sciences Health System
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