PET imaging is helping scientists better understand the triggers of autoimmune inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study presented yesterday at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). It’s a disease that has eluded scientists for many years, but they are now getting closer to finding better management therapies. {read more here}

A $2 million award for the development of an alpha-synuclein PET agent for earlier and more accurate detection of Parkinson’s disease was unveiled by the Michael J. Fox Foundation at the SNMMI Annual Meeting. {read more here}

June 13, 2016 — SAN DIEGO – Using carbon-11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B (C-11 PiB) with PET, researchers have tracked an unusual increase in beta-amyloid plaque in the striatum region of the brain among people with Down syndrome, according to a study presented on Sunday at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) annual meeting. {read more here}

Tests for Alzheimer’s may need to look at a wider variety of memory loss signs and take place earlier in life, new research suggests. A group of researchers from the United States and United Kingdom says that tests on animals indicate that Alzheimer’s patients may benefit from earlier tests — especially on long-term memory loss — which they say is not part of clinical tests currently. {read more here}