Molecular Imaging Branch Website

    The Molecular Imaging Branch uses a variety of neuroimaging techniques to explore molecular and chemical mechanisms associated with neural function in health and disease. The overall goal of the Branch is to further elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms associated with mental illnesses, with the expectation that such knowledge will enhance available treatments. The primary methodology used by investigators in this Branch is PET (positron emission tomography). New imaging probes are synthesized for use as in vivo probes for relevant target proteins in the brain, including membrane-bound receptors, proteins associated with intracellular signal transduction, and ones that reflect gene expression.

    Although PET is the primary neuroimaging tool used by this Branch, several NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) methods are also studied, often in conjunction with PET. These methods include measures of local neuronal activity (functional MRI or fMRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and structural MRI.

    This Branch has three sections: PET Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, PET Neuroimaging Sciences, and Neuroimaging in Mood and Anxiety Disorders. The first two are almost exclusively oriented to PET, whereas the third uses both PET and NMR methods to examine mood and anxiety disorders.The first two sections include a strong technical orientation, with state-of-the-art facilities to advance the number of potential protein targets that can be quantified in the living human brain. New radiotracers are synthesized and then rigorously evaluated in animals (rodents and primates) to assess their utility as quantifiable agents of the supposed target protein. Promising candidate radiotracers are extended to human subjects, first in healthy subjects and then in relevant patient populations. Studies in patients are typically performed in collaboration with clinically-based researchers at NIMH or other institutes.

    This Section evaluates and uses PET tracers as molecular probes of physiology and pathophysiology in animals and humans. Probes of intracellular signal transduction and gene expression will be explored, in addition to traditional receptor targets. This Section includes expertise in quantification of PET studies, with state-of-the-art image analysis and compartmental modeling. Imaging is performed both in primates and rodents both to assess the utility of new probes and to explore models of human pathophysiology. A major new initiative of this Section will perform imaging in rats and mice so as to make use of the growing number of genetically-modified animals. Clinical studies in a large variety of neuropsychiatric disorders will be performed, typically in collaboration with clinically based researchers outside the Section.

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