Published in MPW, 3 June 2013
Researchers in the US have for the first time used MRI to follow the dynamics of neurotransmitters with molecular precision. They have demonstrated the technique on dopamine, a neurotransmitter that represents processes of reward and motivation in the brain.
Neurotransmitters are the chemicals released at the end of nerve fibres to communicate signals to other nerve fibres in the vicinity. An understanding of their dynamics is important for a more general understanding of brain function, yet they are hard to study. In the past, scientists have resorted to PET, an imaging technique that relies on a radioactive tracer being inserted into the body so that its path can be monitored by emitted gamma rays. But PET can only supply images that are spatially accurate to within a few millimetres and temporally accurate to within a few minutes. […]
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