Neuroimaging for precision medicine in psychiatry

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• The increasing burden of mental disorders like major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders necessitates improved diagnostic and treatment strategies.
• Current treatment selection and access to novel therapies for these prevalent conditions are suboptimal.
• Precision psychiatry aims to tailor treatments based on individual patient characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of functional neuroimaging in precision psychiatry for major depressive and anxiety disorders.
• To assess the evidence for using functional neuroimaging to stratify patient heterogeneity based on circuit dysfunction.
• To examine the predictive utility of neuroimaging-derived circuit measures for treatment outcomes and clinical trajectories.

Main Methods:

• Critical review of existing literature on functional neuroimaging in depression and anxiety.
• Focus on studies investigating the stratification of disorders based on underlying neural circuit dysfunction.
• Analysis of research on neuroimaging-derived predictors of treatment response and clinical course.

Main Results:

• Functional neuroimaging shows promise in identifying distinct patient subgroups within major depressive and anxiety disorders based on circuit dysfunction.
• Neuroimaging-derived circuit predictors have demonstrated potential in forecasting treatment outcomes and clinical trajectories.
• Evidence supports the stratification of heterogeneous patient populations using functional neuroimaging.

Conclusions:

• Functional neuroimaging is a valuable tool for advancing precision psychiatry in depression and anxiety.
• Translating neuroimaging measures into clinical practice presents opportunities and challenges.
• Quantifying individual brain circuit function offers a model for clinical translation of neuroimaging findings.