Title:Recent Developments in Neurochemical Imaging in Schizophrenia: An Update
Volume: 20
Issue: 3
Author(s): Nora S. Vyas, Neva H. Patel, Peter Herscovitch, Basant K. Puri and Rupert Lanzenberger
Affiliation:
Keywords:
dopamine, glutamate, serotonin, occupancy, schizophrenia, PET
Abstract: The advent of neurochemical brain imaging methods has provided an opportunity to study the neurochemistry of the human
brain in normal and abnormal development. The aim of this article is to provide an update on recent major developments in neurochemical
imaging in schizophrenia research. In this concise review, we discuss the major findings on three neurotransmitters, namely dopamine,
serotonin and glutamate. The most promising radioligand for D2/D3 neuroreceptor imaging is the agonist [11C]PHNO, with higher
in vivo affinity for D3 than D2 receptors, which can be used to measure amphetamine-induced release of dopamine, and therefore a potential
model of dopaminergic alterations in schizophrenia. Recent development of selective radiotracers allow imaging of the serotonin
transporter (SERT) using positron emission tomography (PET) with selective tracers such as [11C]DASB. Additionally, the glutamatergic
hypothesis has evolved from theory to phase III clinical trials of newer agents with novel mechanisms. With the development of newer
radioligands and the in vivo application of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at relatively high magnetic field strengths, there is
ample scope for further neuroimaging advances.
