Medical imaging

A computer-implemented method of obtaining an indication of the presence of a cognitive disorder or a trait of said disorder in a subject, the method comprising the steps of comparing:

• (a) one or more diffusion MRI measurements of minicolumn-based parameters obtained from a cortical grey matter of the subject's brain, or values derived therefrom;
• and
• (b) the corresponding measurement(s) or value(s) obtained from a control subject without a cognitive disorder,
• wherein the minicolumn-based parameters are one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of minicolumn width, minicolumn spacing, axonal fibre bundle width, axonal fibre bundle spacing, dendritic fibre bundle width, dendritic fibre bundle spacing, minicolumn core width, and minicolumn peripheral neuropil space,
• wherein if the measurements or values obtained in step (a) are one which is positively correlated or directly proportional to the likelihood of the subject having a cognitive disorder or a trait of said disorder, an increase in the measurements or values obtained in step (a) compared to the corresponding measurement(s) or value(s) in step (b) is indicative of the subject having a cognitive disorder or a trait of said disorder;
• and
• wherein if the measurements or values obtained in step (a) are one which is negatively correlated or inversely proportional to the likelihood of the subject having a cognitive disorder or a trait of said disorder, a decrease in the measurements or values obtained in step (a) compared to the corresponding measurement(s) or value(s) in step (b) is indicative of the subject not having a cognitive disorder or a trait of said disorder.