Psychology and wellbeing - Magnetoencephalography (or MEG) can detect post-traumatic stress disorder

A brain-scanning technique called magnetoencephalography (or MEG) could offer the first biological test to help diagnose and treat those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study published in Journal of Neural Engineering.

With this technique, Apostolos Georgopoulos, a neuroscientist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and his colleagues correctly identified 97% of patients that psychologists previously determined were suffering from PTSD.

The magnetoencephalography offers a unique insight into the neural communications within the brain, says Georgopoulos. The instrument measures the magnetic field created as electrical current passes between areas of the brain. In MEG studies about two years ago, Georgopoulos found that, whereas healthy people shared similar patterns of neural communication, people with Alzheimer's and schizophrenia had distinct, disease-specific patterns.

In the current study, the team scanned 74 people diagnosed with with post-traumatic stress disorder, along with 250 people who reported having no mental problems.

During one minute, the instrument captured a map of the brain's electrical activity once every millisecond. For comparison, functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures brain activity indirectly, takes measurements about every three seconds.

For 72 of the 74 participants previously diagnosed with PTSD, MEG scans detected a pattern of neural communications that was different from the healthy participants, but shared among the PTSD group. On the flip side, 31 of the 250 healthy patients had abnormal scan results.

Georgopoulos hopes the research will help speed treatment and simplify insurance coverage.

MEG might serve several uses in addition to diagnosis, researchers say. Neural patterns detected by MEG could be used to assess how well PTSD treatments, from antidepressants and sleep medications to counseling, are working for a patient.

Georgopoulos hopes the research will help speed treatment and simplify insurance coverage.

Psychology and Wellbeing with sources:
Scientific American
CNN

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