Should We Screen For Brain Health In Presidential Candidates?

Neuropsychiatrist Daniel Amen argues this week in the Los Angeles Times that candidates for President should be subject to brain scans in order to declare their brain fitness. He states that three of the last four Presidents have show sign of brain pathology during office: Reagan and his forgetfulness covering up Alzheimer's; Clinton and moral lapses (indicative of pathology in the prefrontal cortex); and George W. Bush's struggle with language and his emotional rigidity (indicative of pathology in the temporal lobes).

Dr. Amen runs clinics where he charges $3,250 for a "comprehensive evaluation," including a SPECT scan. He maintains that certain patterns appear in patients with ADHD. However, evidence based medicine does not back him up on this one. In January 2005, the American Psychiatric Association issued a report indicating that, although certain changes in the brain have been associated with certain illnesses, SPECT and other imaging studies cannot yet be used to diagnose psychiatric illness.