Advances in the psychiatry of late life have increasingly been based on technological developments that are often remote from the concerns of clinicians. This has led to difficulties both in understanding what is being offered and in evaluating potential risks and benefits of the new technologies. Nowhere has this been more evident than in neuroimaging. The uncritical enthusiasm that followed the introduction of every new procedure since Hounsfield's development of computed tomography has often made way for equally uncritical negative attitudes. The problem has been aggravated by the fact that relevant data have been dispersed in a variety of different journals relating to cognate disciplines.

Associate Professors Ames and Chiu have rendered a significant service to the clinical and scientific community by bringing together the important contributions that make up this book. The technological background of the different approaches involved has been explained by relevant experts and for the first time a detailed evaluation has been produced on what each technique has to offer to the investigating and treatment of different disorders of old age. Equally important is the light cast on what neuroimaging has taught us about the possible etiology of these disorders. This compendium must be considered as an important landmark in the growing discipline of the psychiatry of old age.