Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging

About this Project

One of the most compelling theories on the neurobiological mechanisms of schizophrenia is the synaptic pruning hypothesis.

Synaptic pruning is a normal process by which unnecessary neural synapses are eliminated. Synaptic pruning of the prefrontal cortex and other higher-order brain regions is particularly active during adolescence, reflecting the critical function that pruning serves in promoting learning and cognition.

It is theorized that in schizophrenia, there is excessive pruning during adolescence, which sets the stage for the emergence of this condition in later ages.  While this elegant theory has withstood the test of time and there have been empirical data that have provided indirect support for this theory, we have lacked the ability to directly test this hypothesis until very recently. The first ever human PET neuroimaging marker of neural synapses has been recently validated, allowing the quantification of synaptic density in living human beings.This project will apply this PET synaptic tracer to test the synaptic pruning hypothesis of schizophrenia.   

This project is being conducted with collaborators Dr. Fred Chin in the Department of Radiology, Dr. Elizabeth Mormino in the Department of Neurology and Dr. Guido Davidzon in the division of Nuclear Medicine, and with the support from the SPARK Program and the Weston Havens Foundation.

Participating in This Study

We anticipate enrolling subjects in the Fall of 2018

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