These photos are from a psychology conference I attended over the weekend. I thought they were pretty fascinating. The first SPECT scan is of a normal brain.
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The colors in SPECT scans vary depending on what colors the clinician prefers. However, the colors represent the amount of blood flowing to specific areas of the brain. In these pictures the brighter purple the area the more blood flow. It is assumed, with lots of good reason and evidence, that those areas are the most active. Dark areas are areas of relative inactivity. Once you understand this I think the differences are pretty startling. The locations of the brain that are dark and look sorta like holes are areas where the brain's activity is low. If you compare the normal and ADHD scans you will see many more dark areas. This is especially the case in the prefrontal lobe which, in these pictures, is located near the top of the post.
Seriously? Even just comparing the first picture of a normal brain to the ADHD w and without medication pictures? There look like there are pits or areas scooped out in the ADHD brains. The dark areas are areas of low activation.
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Do you mind if a post a link on that entry of mine directly to this entry of yours?
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The colors in SPECT scans vary depending on what colors the clinician prefers. However, the colors represent the amount of blood flowing to specific areas of the brain. In these pictures the brighter purple the area the more blood flow. It is assumed, with lots of good reason and evidence, that those areas are the most active. Dark areas are areas of relative inactivity. Once you understand this I think the differences are pretty startling. The locations of the brain that are dark and look sorta like holes are areas where the brain's activity is low. If you compare the normal and ADHD scans you will see many more dark areas. This is especially the case in the prefrontal lobe which, in these pictures, is located near the top of the post.
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