Software shakes up schizophrenia diagnosis

New research suggests that computer analysis of brain images can diagnose schizophrenia in patients, possibly even before symptoms arise. The technique is based on the ability of computers to tease out subtle differences between brain images. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. The images were analysed by computer to produce an algorithm that could tell the two groups apart. Rather than focusing on specific areas of the brain thought to be affected by the disorder, as has been tried in the past, they looked for subtle changes across the whole brain.