The role of nuclear medicine in neurology and psychiatry.

Nuclear medicine has a place in the study of brain trauma, brain tumours, stroke, dementia epilepsy and depression. The development of new tracers labelled with widely available radionuclides, such as technetium-99m (99Tc) and iodine-123, has played a key role here. Practical methodology can now be implemented in the routine setting. Additional applications are reviewed in the context of brain death, encephalitis, post-viral fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.