imaging small laboratory animals. The goal was to provide a compact system with superior spatial resolution at a fraction of the cost of a clinical PET scanner. Methods: The system uses fiberoptic readout of individually cut lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) crystals to achieve high spatial

subsystem provides informa-tion from prior experiences in the form of memories and associations that are the building blocks of mental simulation. The medial prefrontal subsystem facilitates the flexible use of this information during the construction of self-relevant mental simulations. These two sub

We evaluated the performance characteristics of the eXplore

Time-dependent PET imaging can be an important tool in the assessment of radiotracer performance in murine models. We have performed a quantitative analysis of PET images of 124I, acquired on a clinical PET system using a small-animal phan-tom. We then compared the recovered activity

Noninvasive methods are needed to explore the heterogeneous tumor microenvironment and its modulation by therapy. Hybrid PET/MRI systems are being developed for small-animal and clinical use. The advantage of these integrated systems depends on their ability to provide MR images that are spatially

Although cells in many brain regions respond to reward, the cortical-basal ganglia circuit is at the heart of the reward system. The key structures in this network are the anterior cingulate cortex, the orbital prefrontal cortex, the ventral striatum, the ventral pallidum, and the midbrain dopamine neurons. In addition, other structures, including the dorsal prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and lateral habenular nucleus, and specific brainstem structures such as the pedunculopontine nucleus, and the raphe nucleus, are key components in regulating the reward circuit. Connectivity between these areas forms a complex neural network that mediates different aspects of reward processing. Advances in neuroimaging techniques allow better spatial and temporal resolution. These studies now demonstrate that human functional and structural imaging results map increasingly close to primate anatomy. Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews advance online publication, 7 October 2009; doi:10.1038/npp.2009.129

. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of exercise (treadmill running) on striatal DA release in the human brain. Methods: Twelve healthy volunteers (5 women, 7 men; mean age, 32 ±5 y; age range, 25-40 y) with a history of regular exercise received 2 PET scans with [11C]racloprideon 2 separate

Small-animal PET refers to imaging of animals such as rats and mice using dedicated PET scanners. Small-animal PET has been used extensively in modern biomedical research. It provides a quantitative measure of the 3-dimensional distribu-tion of a radiopharmaceutical administered to a live subject

(NEMA). We also report the results of additional phantom and mouse studies. Methods: The MuPET scanner, which is integrated with a CT camera, is based on the photomultiplier-quadrant-sharing concept and comprises 180 blocks of 13 · 13 lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate crystals (1.24 · 1.4 · 9.5 mm3

., Mol. Brain Res. 20:289–293, 1993). Using a state-specific antibody, we now demonstrate that incubation of rat striatal synaptosomes with amphetamine increases levels of neuromodulin phosphorylated at ser41, the protein kinase C substrate site. Phosphorylation wasmaximal at 5min at 37°C