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Brain scan offers first biological test in diagnosis of PTSD
An event such as sexual assault or a battlefield injury is physically agonizing at the time, but it also can eventually sentence a person to a host of mental symptoms"often vivid flashbacks, anxiety and emotional detachment"known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The disorder afflicts 3.4 percent of men and 9.7 percent of women in the U.S., according to research estimates.
Diagnosing PTSD is not necessarily simple. Psychological evaluations for PTSD cannot always easily distinguish it from other mental illnesses, such as depression, or determine if a patient is over- or underreporting the symptoms. Now, a brain- scanning technique called magnetoencephelography (or MEG) could offer the first biological test to help specifically diagnose and treat those with PTSD. In a study published January 20 in Journal of Neural Engineering, MEG correctly identified 97 percent of patients that psychologists previously determined were suffering from PTSD.