Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans
Published on: December 18, 2016
Seeing is believing: neuroimaging adds to our understanding of cerebral pathology
Gary W Small1, Vladimir Kepe, Jorge R Barrio
1Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA. gsmall@mednet.ucla.edu
Purpose Of Review:
Recent technological developments in neuroimaging have led to new technologies that provide measures of the cerebral pathology of neurodegeneration in living humans. The purpose of this review is to provide background behind these developments and update readers on new findings.
Recent Findings:
Several imaging methods using positron emission tomography have provided measures of amyloid senile plaques in the brain of demented patients and patients with early memory symptoms. ([F-18]FDDNP)-positron emission tomography provides measures of both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Initial results indicate that the pattern of binding values in Alzheimer's disease is consistent with the known neuropathology from autopsy studies, and patients with mild cognitive impairment, who are at risk of Alzheimer's disease, show binding values intermediate between Alzheimer's disease and normal aging. 2-(1-{6-[(2-[F-18]Fluoroethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-naphthyl}ethylidene)malononitrile ([F-18]FDDNP) positron emission tomography also shows a pattern of neuropathology distribution for frontotemporal dementia that differs from that of Alzheimer's disease.
Summary:
In-vivo imaging of cerebral pathology offers the potential for more effective and earlier diagnosis and use of these technologies as surrogate markers to test novel treatments aimed at preventing or eliminating cerebral plaque and tangle accumulation.
Related Concept Videos
Brain Imaging
These technologies include computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scans), positron-emission tomography (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Parallel Processing
Neuroplasticity
Vision

