EDITORIAL

Neuroimaging: What a Great Ride!

On May 25, 1961, in a speech before a joint session ofCongress,1 President John Fitzgerald Kennedy an-nounced his intention to greatly accelerate funding forthe National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) and the creation of the Apollo program with astated goal of putting a man on the moon before the endof the decade. In reporting on the status of this initiativein a speech in Houston, TX on September 12, 1962,Kennedy stated2:

We set sail on this new sea because there is newknowledge to be gained . . . and used for the progressof all people. . . The growth of our science and edu-cation will be enriched by new knowledge of ouruniverse and environment, by new techniques oflearning and mapping and observation, by new toolsand computers for industry, medicine . . .

President Kennedy’s words were prophetic in manyways. Aside from the tangible goal that was successfullyachieved with the great ride and moon landing of Apollo11 in 1969, the 1960s saw the development of digitalsignal processing for use during the Apollo Lunar land-ings to computer-enhance pictures of the moon.3 Thistechnology (developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab-oratory) was instrumental in providing the computer-based image processing necessary for computed tomog-raphy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that wouldrevolutionize diagnostic medicine in the next few de-cades.4

We can now marvel at the great ride neuroimaging hasgiven us through technological advances in all of themajor modalities and their applications to the clinical andinvestigational fields of neuroscience. Even though thelast dedicated volume published by this journal on neu-roimaging was only 2 years ago,5 the rapid pace ofachievement in the field justifies an update.As guest editor, I have assembled a volume that fo-

cuses on recent advances in neuroimaging, in particularthose likely to impact the field of neurotherapeutics. Allof the major modalities are included in this volume(computed tomography, MRI, positron emission tomog-raphy, angiography/interventional, and neurosonology),reflecting the breadth of the neuroimaging revolution.Several of the articles provide technology updates on theimproving capabilities of neuroimaging acquisitionmethods and protocols. These include reviews of thelatest advances in diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic

resonance spectroscopy, perfusion MRI, functional MRI,magnetization transfer imaging, myelin imaging, inter-ventional (cathether-based angiographic) procedures,CSF flow imaging, and parallel MRI. We also consideroff-line processing and analysis methods that allow thederivation of an increasingly complex set of data fromneuroimages. These methods include brain mapping andtime-series modeling that bring the promise of providingnew surrogates to monitor critical neurobiologic pro-cesses such as degeneration and repair. Finally, wepresent some specific topics of interest that bridge theneuroimaging and neurotherapeutics fields in which thedata provided in the image leads the clinician and scien-tist directly into the realm of therapeutic development.These include articles on brain iron, ultrasound enhancedthrombolysis, and imaging of neuroinflammation.Many frontiers are yet to be conquered in the field of

neuroimaging and many challenges remain in properlyharnessing this wide array of tools. Nonetheless, we arethrilled with the pursuit of knowledge as we travel on thecelestial journey provided by neuroimaging and the hopethat it brings for patients with neurologic disorders.

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by researchgrants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH-NINDS1R01NS055083-01) and National Multiple Sclerosis Society(RG3705A1; RG3798A2). I am grateful to Ms. Sophie Tammfor providing valuable administrative and editorial assistanceon this entire project.

Rohit Bakshi, MD, FAANAssociate Professor of Neurology & Radiology

Brigham & Women’s HospitalHarvard Medical School Boston, MA

REFERENCES1. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Speech before a joint session ofCongress, May 25, 1961. Available at: www.jfklibrary.org/Historical�Resources/Archives/Reference�Desk/Speeches/JFK/Urgent�National�Needs�Page�4.htm. Accessed April 23, 2007.

2. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Speech in Houston, TX, September12, 1962. Available at: www.jfklibrary.org/Historical�Resources/Archives/Reference�Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03SpaceEffort09121962.htm. Accessed April 23, 2007.

3. Did NASA invent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)? Availableat: www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinfaq.htm#spinfaq9. Accessed April 23,2007.

4. NASA contributes research and technology to the war against can-cer. Available at: www.science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/belleau2.htm. Accessed April 23, 2007.

5. Masdeu JC, Bakshi R. Neuroimaging: anything to do with neuro-therapeutics? NeuroRx 2005;2:163–166.

Neurotherapeutics: The Journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics

Vol. 4, 315, July 2007 © The American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, Inc. 315