Pediatric Movement Disorders - Diagnostic Methods: Imaging

Pediatric Movement Disorders - Diagnostic Methods

Imaging

Imaging methods may be divided into two types: structural imaging and functional imaging. Structural imaging looks at the shape of the brain's components to determine if there are abnormal formations or destruction of certain brain elements. Tumors, strokes, malformations, and certain old injuries appear as structural changes. A newer form of structural imaging looks at the chemical composition of different parts of the brain in order to determine if there is ongoing injury or abnormal biochemical processes.

Functional imaging looks at which part of the brain is used to accomplish particular functional tasks. It makes use of the fact that as a brain region becomes active, it uses more blood and activity-associated changes in blood flow may be measured. Structural imaging may detect damage to one part of the brain, while functional imaging may reveal if that part of the brain is still working or if its functions may have been taken over by other brain regions. Functional imaging is still a relatively new technique and it is currently primarily used for research.

Please see the following topics related to imaging diagnostic methods below, and available on the left side of this page.

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Section Author: Terence Sanger, MD PhD
Scientific Reviewers: Leon Dure, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; Marjorie A Garvey, MD, Pediatrics and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch, NIMH, Human Motor Control Section, NINDS; Jonathan W. Mink, MD PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Neurobiology & Anatomy, and Pediatrics Chief, Child Neurology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
Editor: Joy B. Leffler, NASW, AMIA