Suffering from serious mental illness significantly reduces average life expectancy from 13 to 32 years and, in most Western countries, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability, being responsible for 30-40% of chronic sick leave. In an effort to curb the prevalence and burden associated with chronic mental illness, the focus of psychiatric research has shifted towards the prodromal and early stages of illness, when there is a window of opportunity to prevent chronic disability and promote long-term recovery. However, early detection and intervention is hindered by unique challenges, such as the heterogeneity of clinical presentation and neurobiological correlates, phenotypic similarities among early manifestations of distinct diagnostic categories, as well as unpredictable disease progression and response to treatment. All combined, these challenges highlight the need for biomarkers that can directly assist clinical decision-making with respect to the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of individuals experiencing their first signs of illness.
Patients suffering from mental illness have increasing access to magnetic resonance imaging and other neuroimaging techniques. The goal of this Research Topic is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of neuroimaging in the prodromal and early stages of mental illness. The aim is to explore the potential of different neuroimaging modalities, and how they can be combined with other data modalities such as clinical and neurocognitive data, to identify clinically useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for early intervention across psychiatry.
We welcome Original Research studies as well as comprehensive Reviews and meta-analyses that use any type of neuroimaging modality to investigate individuals in high-risk states or within the first years of illness of any psychiatric disorder. We are interested in studies with a variety of methodological approaches including but not limited to cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, traditional statistics and machine learning analysis, single and multimodal data, pharmacological and psychosocial interventions.
Topics may include:
? Diagnostic studies: use of neuroimaging to identify individuals at the early stages of a psychiatric disorder (i.e., high-risk states or first years of illness).
? Differential diagnostic studies: use of neuroimaging to distinguish between different diagnostic groups at early presentation.
? Transition to illness: use of neuroimaging to investigate high-risk individuals who went on to develop a psychiatric disorder.
? Response to treatment: use of neuroimaging to investigate response to treatment in patients within the initial stages of illness.
? Use of neuroimaging to reveal clues about the pathophysiology of disease.
? Use neuroimaging to find the neural correlates of altered cognitive functioning in psychiatric disorders.
Suffering from serious mental illness significantly reduces average life expectancy from 13 to 32 years and, in most Western countries, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability, being responsible for 30-40% of chronic sick leave. In an effort to curb the prevalence and burden associated with chronic mental illness, the focus of psychiatric research has shifted towards the prodromal and early stages of illness, when there is a window of opportunity to prevent chronic disability and promote long-term recovery. However, early detection and intervention is hindered by unique challenges, such as the heterogeneity of clinical presentation and neurobiological correlates, phenotypic similarities among early manifestations of distinct diagnostic categories, as well as unpredictable disease progression and response to treatment. All combined, these challenges highlight the need for biomarkers that can directly assist clinical decision-making with respect to the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of individuals experiencing their first signs of illness.
Patients suffering from mental illness have increasing access to magnetic resonance imaging and other neuroimaging techniques. The goal of this Research Topic is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of neuroimaging in the prodromal and early stages of mental illness. The aim is to explore the potential of different neuroimaging modalities, and how they can be combined with other data modalities such as clinical and neurocognitive data, to identify clinically useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for early intervention across psychiatry.
We welcome Original Research studies as well as comprehensive Reviews and meta-analyses that use any type of neuroimaging modality to investigate individuals in high-risk states or within the first years of illness of any psychiatric disorder. We are interested in studies with a variety of methodological approaches including but not limited to cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, traditional statistics and machine learning analysis, single and multimodal data, pharmacological and psychosocial interventions.
Topics may include:
? Diagnostic studies: use of neuroimaging to identify individuals at the early stages of a psychiatric disorder (i.e., high-risk states or first years of illness).
? Differential diagnostic studies: use of neuroimaging to distinguish between different diagnostic groups at early presentation.
? Transition to illness: use of neuroimaging to investigate high-risk individuals who went on to develop a psychiatric disorder.
? Response to treatment: use of neuroimaging to investigate response to treatment in patients within the initial stages of illness.
? Use of neuroimaging to reveal clues about the pathophysiology of disease.
? Use neuroimaging to find the neural correlates of altered cognitive functioning in psychiatric disorders.
