Comparison of SPECT applications in neurology and psychiatry.

The following presentation provides an overview of SPECT brain imaging applications in both neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Specific findings in cerebrovascular disease, dementia, and epilepsy are described in order to highlight the role SPECT plays in distinguishing primary organic disease from primary psychopathology. Through case examples, new applications of three-dimensional SPECT rCBF imaging that could play a major role in defining CNS network abnormalities in major depressive disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder are elucidated. The role of network imaging analysis across groups in psychiatric subjects is contrasted to its roles in neurologic disorders. The degree to which both neurologic and psychiatric pathology seen on SPECT exceeds that observed through structural modalities is defined.