[sundar1989]

So guys I'm off to take yet another MRI...Please suggest me a best one people where the results could be interpreted to the best effect.

 

[Wendy]

This might be something to talk with an expert about.

However, having an MRI with contrast might be most efficient in scanning your brain - but this is only from my experience getting an MRI back in May.

The dye agent is injected into your vein and shown on the results, which makes them easier to read with clearer images.

 

[Broken]

I am unsure if you can just request what you wanted.. depends on your financial circumstances I guess. But I would ask for DTI imaging if available.. highly unlikely it is, and as I saw you are in India perhaps even less. It basically maps individual neurons in the brain.. behing that fMRI that would show your functional blood flow in the brain. You will most likely get a plain old structural MRI that shows any major tumours or abnormalities. I dont predict it will come back with much, but always worth ruling out. Some people here had enlarged ventricles, not that that was considered 'diagnostically relevant'.. good luck

 

[rob35235]

Standard MRI's only show a visual snapshot and don't show the functioning of your brain. fMRI's (functional MRI's) will detect the way glucose is processed across your brain, but there are mostly done in a research setting. In other words, we're still in the stone ages when it comes to figuring out the cause of mental illnesses.

 

[Broken]

... dont want to sound contrary, but fMRI actually measures when the magnetic properties of haemoglobin are altered when it is deoxygenated. While this could well imply aerobic respiration, I am very open minded to there being anaerobic respiration in the brain as there is plenty of fat available. Hence, to me this technique is very clever, but only shows aerobic respiration and not the full picture, but is quite widely available and still insightful. The only thing is, studies have shown that just differences in breathing rates has HUGE changes in brain blood flow... and you get some anxious people scanned, their brain will look very different, but that might not be diagnostically relevant.

The best thing to come out quite recently is DTI (diffusion tensor imaging). This will be less available, but maps individual neurons. I got really excited when this study came out, but nobody else seems bothered... anyway, it implies the connection between the Basal Ganglia and the superior parietal gyrus are involved with DPD symptom severity. In years to come this technique will diagnose EVERY mental health illness with extremely accurate, quantitative results, unlike the potluck system we have now where ten different doctors will give 5 different diagnoses. The study:

https://ww5.aievolution.com/hbm1701/index.cfm?do=abs.viewAbs&abs=2738

 

[sundar1989]

Thanks guys...I'll look in to it....yes DTI is unavailable out here in India I guess but all others are accessible. One more advantage here is we can virtually get any scan we want on demand without any hassles at all. I think I'm going to use that. I've had one earlier and it had showed atrophy of my brain so I want to pursue it further. Also is that related to enlarged ventricles?

 

[Broken]

Atrophy can be related to enlarged ventricles... depends where the atrophy is. I have heard enlarged ventricles can imply a decrease in size of the hippocampus, commonly seen in trauma, ptsd... I would argue DPD as well, but there are no studies on size of hippocampus in DP. The one structural brain study of DPD patients excluded hippocampus and amygdala sizes as they are involved in anxiety disorders (and therefore irrelevant?!?!). Some of these people with all this knowledge, degrees and training sometimes seriously lack common sense. I think neurogenesis, trauma and hippocampus size will be diagnostically relevant to us