Imaging of Neurochemical Transmission in the Central Nervous System

Abstract Over the past two decades, single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging techniques have been used to not only quantify the receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) but also measure neurochemical transmission (for a detailed review, refer to Laruelle, 2000 ). The use of such SPECT and PET imaging techniques to characterize neurochemical transmission has contributed tremendously to our understanding of the neurobiology of several neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and drug addiction ( Laruelle and Abi-Dargham, 1999 ; Volkow et al., 1999 ). In this chapter, we review the SPECT and PET imaging techniques that are being used in clinical and translational research to measure neurotransmitter release in the CNS.