Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7255, USA.
Int J Neurosci. 2012 Sep;122(9):483-93. doi: 10.3109/00207454.2012.678446. Epub 2012 Apr 30.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has helped to elucidate the neurobiological bases of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders by localizing etiologically-relevant aberrations in brain function. Functional MRI also has shown great promise to help understand potential mechanisms of action of effective treatments for a range of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and autism. However, the use of fMRI to probe intervention effects in psychiatry is associated with unique methodological considerations, including the psychometric properties of repeated fMRI scans, how to assess potential relations between the effects of an intervention on symptoms and on specific brain activation patterns, and how to best make causal inferences about intervention effects on brain function. Additionally, the study of treatment effects in neurodevelopmental disorders presents additional unique challenges related to brain maturation, analysis methods, and the potential for motion artifacts. We review these methodological considerations and provide recommendations for best practices for each of these topics.
功能磁共振成像（fMRI）通过定位与病因相关的大脑功能异常，有助于阐明精神和神经发育障碍的神经生物学基础。功能性磁共振成像也有望帮助我们理解一系列精神和神经发育障碍的有效治疗方法的潜在作用机制，包括情绪和焦虑障碍、精神分裂症和自闭症。然而，在精神病学中使用 fMRI 来探测干预效果与一些独特的方法学考虑因素相关，包括重复 fMRI 扫描的心理计量特性、如何评估干预对症状和特定大脑激活模式的影响之间的潜在关系，以及如何最好地对干预对大脑功能的影响做出因果推断。此外，神经发育障碍的治疗效果研究还存在与大脑成熟度、分析方法以及运动伪影的潜在影响相关的额外独特挑战。我们回顾了这些方法学考虑因素，并针对每个主题提供了最佳实践建议。
