Nearly one-fourth of all adult stays in U.S. community hospitals involve depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia and other mental health disorders or substance use-related disorders, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

In addition to the distress suffered by patients with psychiatric disorders, the burden is shared by their loved ones and also by the health care system itself.

A new study from the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has investigators optimistic about the potential for functional MRI (fMRI) to cut some of the uncertainty out of caring for these patients.
By looking at connectivity patterns of a brain region called the striatum, which is known to be abnormal in patients suffering from psychotic symptoms, the researchers have shown they can predict a patient's response to medication through imaging.

A total of 91 regions functionally connected with the striatum provided significant prognostic information.

"This study is the first to report a predictive fMRI-derived measure validated in an independent study group of patients treated with antipsychotics," said Dr. Deepak Sarpal, a lead author of the study. "The results we found from this study open the door for contemporary 'precision medicine' approaches to psychiatry and more specifically, the use of fMRI scans as important players in the treatment of psychiatric disorders."

Typically, psychotic episodes are treated without guidance from lab tests or brain scans. Instead, doctors employ what the researchers call "trial and error" in determining the treatment pathway for these patients — an approach that can hamper care and waste resources.

In their report, the researchers concluded with further development, their findings have the potential to introduce a prognostic biomarker with clinical utility and to reduce the overall burden associated with psychotic illnesses.

MRI Homepage