[983] Molecular Neuroimaging in Psychiatry
The research projects of our group focus on various themes of neuroimaging including:
1) development of quantitative imaging methods in PET/SPECT for the study of different cerebral neurotransmission systems (kinetic modeling of dopaminergic (D2/3) and serotonergic (5-HT2A) neurotransmission), neuroinflammation using various PET/SPECT TSPO tracers (18kDa Translocator Protein).
2) preclinical PET/SPECT applications: study of the mechanism of action of atypical antipsychotics (SNF n°156829); In vivo study of rodent neuroinflammation with the use of adenoviral vector-mediated protein overexpression and a TSPO deficient mouse model; Study of neuroinflammation in relation to amyloid deposits and behavioral and cognitive alterations in transgenic models of Alzheimer's disease.
3) in vitro studies on the post-mortem human brain for the identification and characterization of inflammation with respect to neurodegenerative pathologies.
4) Neuropathological validation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of small vessel disease and neurodegeneration in human brain aging (SNF n°159990).
5) clinical applications, particularly study of neuroinflammatory process in various psychiatric pathologies (project under development).
6) development of SPECT / PET radioligands in collaboration with the CERMN (Center for Studies and Research on the Medicine of Normandy, Caen) and ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization).