Could Brain Imaging Enhance Personalized Medicine?

By Chuck Seegert, Ph.D.

Despite extensive research, the field of non-invasive brain scanning has had little impact on our daily lives. Recently, however, an analysis from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tackled how this work may be useful in predicting future behaviors. Their analysis of a wide array of techniques may offer insights that could help personalize clinical treatment approaches.

Non-invasive neurological imaging has transformed the field of medicine over the last several decades. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are widespread and indispensable in the practice of modern medicine. As the field continues to develop, the resolutions of these imaging methods have improved, and functional studies have achieved unprecedented sophistication. In fact, this area of science has progressed to a point where some feel it may be ready to move beyond the study of disease after a patient falls ill. Instead, its application may be useful as a social tool for understanding behaviors. It could then be used to act preventatively to avoid potential issues.

With this focus, researchers at MIT reviewed the capabilities of several existing neuroimaging technologies, according to a recent press release. While neuroimaging has enhanced the understanding of the human brain in the study of health and disease, their goal was to identify how it could be positively applied in educational and medical practices.

"Presently, we often wait for failure, in school or in mental health, to prompt attempts to help, but by then a lot of harm has occurred," said Dr. John Gabrieli of MIT, in the press release. "If we can use neuroimaging to identify individuals at high risk for future failure, we may be able to help those individuals avoid such failure altogether."

Several studies show that neuromarkers are strongly correlated with, or can even predict, learning and educational success, future criminality, health-related behaviors like addiction, and more, according to a paper published by the team in the journal Neuron. The authors contend that neuromarkers may often predict these outcomes better than traditional behavioral studies that psychologists have used in the past.

The ethical and societal issues that this type of analysis brings up are profound, as the authors note in the press release. Caution must be taken when applying knowledge of future behavior so that educational and medical practices are personalized. It should not be used to limit an individual’s resources. Instead, it should be used to design educational programs that people may succeed in when they may not be suited to standard educational programs.

While neuroimaging’s applicability to social problems is yet to be determined, other studies continue in the field of medicine and health. Recently, in an article published on Med Device Online, a new imaging method was discussed that can detect chronic traumatic encephalopathy while a patient is still alive.