Finding the Elusive Psychiatric "Lesion" With 21st-Century Neuroanatomy: A Note of Caution

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Psychiatric Research
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is widely used in psychiatric research.
• Numerous structural and functional MRI findings have been reported in psychiatric disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability of MRI findings in psychiatric research.
• To highlight potential artifacts and confounders in MRI data analysis.

Main Methods:

• Review of technical reports on MRI data sensitivity to artifacts.
• Analysis of common confounders in structural MRI, resting-state functional MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging.

Main Results:

• MRI data, particularly structural, resting-state functional, and diffusion tensor imaging, are highly sensitive to artifacts like head motion and breathing.
• Confounders such as smoking, body weight, and substance use vary systematically between patient and control groups.
• Evidence for neurobiological significance of MRI findings in psychiatric disorders is inconclusive due to potential artifacts.

Conclusions:

• Uncritically accepting MRI findings may lead to misinformation about biological abnormalities in psychiatric illness.
• Artifacts and confounders can dominate MRI results, questioning their pathobiological relevance.
• Further research is needed to develop robust methods for artifact detection and correction in psychiatric MRI studies.