By: Ming on Mongo

Ming on Mongo — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:25:59 +0000

Though it’s a different technology, have experienced an interesting “application” for PET scans, while attempting to obtain a “2nd opinion” re: my “ex-es” preliminary psychiatric diagnoses of a personality disorder.
Dr. Daniel Amen operates several clinics around the country, which use brain PET scans, mainly to help diagnose children with possible ADD/ADHD. But Amen’s books also mention the possibility of brain disorders in adults and their impact on marriages, so it seemed worth a look, especially as there was an Amen Clinic relatively nearby.
PET scans typically measure activity in different parts of the brain, thru the varying uptake of glucose containing a radioactive isotope. And while similar to MRI’s, in that the specific brain function may not be that clear, the resulting color pictures do give a pretty clear view of at least where and how much of the brain is active at a given time.
Anyway, long story short, my ex-es brain scans turned out to be unusually lit up all over with colored pinpoints of activity, kinda resembling a veritable “Christmas tree”, which was especially noticeable when compared to the much less “colorful” scans of a supposedly “normal” brain “at rest”! Which BTW, also seems to fit the theory that many psychological disorders may be largely due to difficulty managing chronic “over activity” in certain parts of the brain.

Comments on: How reliable are fMRI results?

By: Ming on Mongo