Can functional MRI help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease?

One of the frustrating things about suspecting a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease is that no definitive test of any kind can make a firm diagnosis. Only an autopsy can confirm that a person had the disease. That’s why scientists are working to use new types of brain imaging in hopes that such a test may soon be possible. Two leading possibilities are functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or fMRI, and positron emission tomography, or PET.