Around this time of year, people are reminded it’s better to give than receive. According to recent research using functional MRI (fMRI) to examine brain function, this is true when it comes to giving thanks. Gratitude may be good for mental health and increase overall feelings of altruism.

Computer tomography (CT) has produced stunning images and improved diagnosis and treatment of myriad health complications. A German research team has developed an imaging technique called nano-CT that produces images at resolutions up to 100 nanometers, a marketed improvement from the 500 nm in traditional CT methods.

Recent research, led by Chris Wu, MD, with the department of ophthalmology at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai in New York, in JAMA Ophthalmology discussed the case of one woman who experienced acute solar retinopathy, where researchers used adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy to gather high-resolution images of her eye structures.

Scientists at Arizona State University have demonstrated the clinical possibilities of live-cell computed tomography (LCCT), successfully completing a proof-of-concept project aimed at detailing the nuclei and mitochondria in cancer and immune-system cells—live and in 3D.

South Korean researchers have used a budding machine-learning technique to generate high-quality structural MR images from amyloid PET scans of dementia patients’ brains. They were then able to quantify cortical amyloid load from these MR-less images, which may open the door to ordering PET scans alone for numerous imaging scenarios in which PET/MR is now a preferred diagnostic pathway.

A police officer who was shot through the head and declared all but brain dead is slowly but surely regaining cognitive function, and functional MRI is playing a role in his recovery.

Tinnitus—the perception of sound, often ringing, without external noise—can be a difficult condition to treat, because, in many cases, an exact cause cannot be identified. Recent work presented at RSNA 2017 showed promise, though, by using neurofeedback and functional MRI (fMRI) to identify activity in the brain’s auditory cortex.

Scientists in China are working on a way to magnetize a type of algae called spirulina, which is already in use as a dietary supplement, and then track its movements in the body using nuclear magnetic resonance.