Neurology and Neuro Surgery

Current neuroimaging techniques are not very good at detecting acute changes in the levels of neurotransmitters in the live human brain. As a result, we have poor understanding of their roles in the regulation of human cognition and behavior.We developed the single scan dynamic molecular imaging technique to detect, map and measure task-induced acute changes in dopamine neurotransmission in the live human brain. The technique exploits the competition between a neurotransmitterand its receptor ligand for occupancy of the same receptor sites. We used the technique to detect dopamine released during cognitive, behavioural and emotional task performance and also to examine novel hypotheses concerning pathophysiology of psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions, including ADHD and PTSD. Since the technique provides information that cannot be obtained by other means, it could a valuable tool not only to study human cognition and behavior bit also to explore neurocognitive bases of psychiatric conditions.