In patients with Parkinson’s disease, neurochemical changes seen on molecular imaging could open the door to better treatment of motor dysfunction, new research shows.  Specifically, the decreased expression of protein phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) was seen in patients with Parkinson’s disease on PET scans that used the radioligand carbon 11 IMA107 (¹¹C-IMA107), said investigator Flavia Niccolini, MD, from King’s College London, United Kingdom. {read more here}

Results from positron emission tomography scans indicate patients with social anxiety disorder have invariably increased serotonin synthesis and transporter availability compared with healthy patients. Researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) to assess serotonin synthesis and serotonin transporter availability among 18 patients with social anxiety disorder (mean age, 32.6 years) and 18 healthy patients (mean age, 34.7 years). {read more here}

he sequence of denervation of gut organs may reflect the stage of Parkinson’s disease (PD), a study suggests.  When Danish researchers used ¹¹C-donepezil as a biomarker in positron emission tomography (PET) to look at parasympathetic innervation, they found decreased binding in the small intestine, indicating denervation, but not in the pancreas of newly diagnosed patients with PD in the premotor phase of the disease. Denervation of the pancreas occurred in the motor phase of PD.  {read more here}

Doing crossword puzzles, reading, and engaging in other cognitively stimulating activities may reduce the risk for Alzheimer`s disease (AD), but not through an effect on brain β-amyloid (Aβ) burden, glucose metabolism, or hippocampal volume, new [PET Imaging] research shows. {read more here}