Introduction to Psychoradiology: Neuroimaging Biomarkers and Their Clinical Application in Psychiatry

Psychoradiology is an emerging interdisciplinary subspecialty bridging psychiatry, neuroradiology, and neuroscience to explore the neurobiological basis of mental illness. Using multimodal imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, positron emission tomography, and single photon emission computed tomography, psychoradiology enables the investigation of structural, functional, and neurochemical abnormalities underlying psychiatric disorders. Although neuroimaging has advanced over 4 decades, its clinical diagnostic yield in primary psychiatric syndromes remains limited, serving mainly to exclude secondary structural causes. Recent research demonstrates disease-specific changes in brain morphology, connectivity, and metabolism across schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder, supporting their characterization as intrinsic brain disorders. The integration of imaging findings with clinical and computational models presents emerging opportunities for precision psychiatry. As psychoradiology transitions from research to clinical application, it holds promise for developing imaging biomarkers that inform disease subtyping, prognosis, and individualized treatment response.