Background: Multiple studies successfully applied multivariate analysis to neuroimaging data demonstrating the potential utility of neuroimaging for clinical diagnostic and prognostic purposes.
Objectives: Summary of the current state of research regarding the application of neuroimaging in the field of psychiatry.
Material and methods: Literature review of current studies.
Results: Results of current studies indicate the potential application of neuroimaging data across various diagnoses, such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and dementia. Potential applications include disease classification, differential diagnosis and prediction of disease course.
Conclusion: The results of the studies are heterogeneous although some studies report promising findings. Further multicentre studies are needed with clearly specified patient populations to systematically investigate the potential utility of neuroimaging for the clinical routine.