Diagnostic performance of the specific uptake size index for semi-quantitative analysis of I-123-FP-CIT SPECT: harmonized multi-center research setting versus typical clinical single-camera setting.

Introduction: The specific uptake size index (SUSI) of striatal FP-CIT uptake is independent of spatial resolution in the SPECT image, in contrast to the specific binding ratio (SBR). This suggests that the SUSI is particularly appropriate for multi-site/multi-camera settings in which camera-specific effects increase inter-subject variability of spatial resolution. However, the SUSI is sensitive to inter-subject variability of striatum size.

Amyloid load but not regional glucose metabolism predicts conversion to Alzheimer's dementia in a memory clinic population.

Purpose: The value of imaging regional glucose metabolism with [F]FDG PET for the prediction of progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is controversial. The predictive value of imaging with [F]FDG PET was therefore tested and compared with that of imaging beta-amyloid load with [C]PIB PET in the same memory clinic population of MCI patients.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients with MCI who had undergone [F]FDG as well as [C]PIB PET were identified from a single-centre clinical registry.

Reduced glucose metabolism in neocortical network nodes remote from hypothalamic hamartomas reflects cognitive impairment.

The clinical appearance of patients with hypothalamic hamartomas is very heterogeneous, and interindividual variability of intellectual abilities is not completely understood. We retrospectively investigated cerebral dysfunction as indicated by reduced regional glucose metabolism in 29 patients (age range 7-49 years) with epilepsy due to hypothalamic hamartomas. Brain metabolism assessed by [ F]FDG-PET was compared between patients with and without cognitive impairment controlled for unevenly distributed hamartoma lateralization seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Left Anterior Temporal Glucose Metabolism and not Amyloid-beta Load Predicts Naming Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease.

Naming impairment in Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) is associated with atrophy of the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL). We aimed to elucidate if regional cerebral glucose metabolism, as a biomarker of synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration, of the left ATL predicts naming impairment, and if amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition, a pathological hallmark of AD, contributes to the prediction. Twenty-nine patients with AD underwent combined [(11)C]PIB and [(18)F]FDG PET examinations for assessment of Aβ load and regional cerebral glucose metabolism.

Long-term characterization of the Flinders Sensitive Line rodent model of human depression: Behavioral and PET evidence of a dysfunctional entorhinal cortex.

The etiology of depression is unknown but has been associated with dysregulation of neuronal activity at numerous loci on the limbic-cortical circuitry. The Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) is a validated rodent model of human depression with spontaneously emerging behavioral and physiological phenotype, however, the durability and robustness of the phenotypes have not been described. The objective of the current study was to evaluate longitudinal dynamics of the depressive-like symptoms in this animal model.