Study: MRI May Prove an Effective Means to Diagnose Mental Disorders

In a landmark study, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center have found that a MRI might be a feasible way to diagnose mental illnesses like bipolar disorder. The findings, published in Psychological Medicine, revealed that investigators acheived 73 percent accuracy in differentiating the brains of those with bipolar disorder from the brains of healthy individuals. Bipolar disorder, and other mental disorders like it, is diagnosed by assessing a patient’s symptoms only, which can lead to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.

“This approach does not undermine the importance of rigorous clinical assessment and the importance of building relationships with patients but provides biological justification for the type of diagnosis made,” one researcher said. For more information, click here to read the full article.