Anatomical imaging: Volumetric analysis

The introduction of neuroimaging methodologies revolutionised clinical diagnosis of Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases by enabling for the first time the in vivo visualisation of disease processes that were previously accessible only post-mortem. Non-invasive imaging methods have provided insight into progressive pathological processes and offer the potential to identify early markers of disease onset associated with or even preceding clinical symptom onset. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the development of these putative imaging biomarkers to identify novel therapeutic targets and provide earlier read-outs of novel drug action and efficacy has attracted great interest from both the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies. This chapter outlines applications of anatomic imaging measures, with a particular emphasis on those derived from volumetric analyses, to understanding CNS disease and therapy. © 2009 Springer-Verlag New York.