Paradigm Shift: Using Neuroimaging to Identify Pathology Related to Frontotemporal Abnormalities

This study aims to show that brain imaging is a more reliable predictor of identifying pathology than observational symptoms, and therefore, the use of neuroimaging will result in more specific, effective, and individualized treatment. Archival data, in the form of quantitative electroencephalograms and behavioral information from 245 pediatric patients between the ages of five and eighteen, were evaluated in an effort to determine if any correlations can be made between frontotemporal brain abnormality and severity of behavioral presentation. It was hypothesized that patterns of brain functioning would correlate with severity of behavioral presentation but that these patterns would not consistently correlate with particular diagnoses as categorized by the DSM-IV-TR. More specifically, it was hypothesized that individuals with abnormality in both right and left hemisphere of the frontotemporal junction would present with more sever behavioral abnormality as compared to individuals with abnormality in only the right or left frontotemporal region.