臨床神経学

第50回日本神経学会総会

<シンポジウム10―4>神経機能画像の進歩
高次脳機能の神経機能画像研究

藤井 俊勝

東北大学大学院医学系研究科高次機能障害学〔〒980-8575 宮城県仙台市青葉区星陵町2-1〕

For the research on human higher brain functions, both neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies are useful, but each of these two methodologies has merits and demerits. In neuropsychological studies, damaged regions are necessary for the normal execution of cognitive functions underlying the symptoms that patients show. However, it is usually difficult to determine to what extent the lesion has affected a specific psychological subprocess amongst several subprocesses related to the symptoms. On the other hand, in neuroimaging studies, activated regions may not be necessary for but simply participate in a targeted higher brain function. However, if we can set up an adequate experimental design, it provides an opportunity to identify brain regions related to a specific psychological subprocess necessary for the targeted higher brain function. In this symposium, I talked about several neuroimaging studies using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. We can take advantage of neuroimaging techniques for the research on human brain functions, but it should be kept in mind that neuroimaging techniques are not the purpose of the research but simply one of the useful means.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (175K)

(臨床神経, 49:933−934, 2009)
key words:高次脳機能, 神経機能画像法, PET, 機能的MRI

(受付日:2009年5月22日)