Search

Brain distribution of synaptic vesicle protein 2A was measured with fluorine-18 UCB-H ([18F]UCB-H) and positron emission tomography (PET).

To evaluate the accuracy of 18F-fluoride PETcomputed tomography (CT) to detect bone metastases (BMs) in a breast and prostate cancer population, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or thin-slice CT as a gold standard.

Für die18F‐Markierungvon Radiopharmaka benötigt man annähernd wasserfreie [18F]Fluorid‐Lösungen, doch um [18F]F−von Anionaustauscherharzen zu waschen, werden üblicherweise wässrige K2CO3‐Lösungen verwendet. Ersetzt man K2CO3durch starke organische Basen wie die Phosphazenbase P2Et (deren konjugierte Säure hier abgebildet ist), so lässt sich hoch reaktives [18F]F−ohne eine azeotrope Wasserverdampfung zurückgewinnen.

In two H2(15)O PET scan experiments, we investigated the cerebral correlates of explicit and implicit knowledge in a serial reaction time (SRT) task. To do so, we used a novel application of the Process Dissociation Procedure, a behavioral paradigm that makes it possible to separately assess conscious and unconscious contributions to performance during a subsequent sequence generation task. To manipulate the extent to which the repeating sequential pattern was learned explicitly, we varied the pace of the choice reaction time task-a variable that is known to have differential effects on the extent to which sensitivity to sequence structure involves implicit or explicit knowledge. Results showed that activity in the striatum subtends the implicit component of performance during recollection of a learned sequence, whereas the anterior cingulate/mesial prefrontal cortex (ACC/MPFC) supports the explicit component. Most importantly, we found that the ACC/MPFC exerts control on the activity of the striatum during retrieval of the sequence after explicit learning, whereas the activity of these regions is uncoupled when learning had been essentially implicit. These data suggest that implicit learning processes can be successfully controlled by conscious knowledge when learning is essentially explicit. They also supply further evidence for a partial dissociation between the neural substrates supporting conscious and nonconscious components of performance during recollection of a learned sequence.

[18F]Fluoro-L-dopa, an important radiopharmaceutical for positron emission tomography (PET), has been synthesized using a phase-transfer alkylation reaction. A chiral quaternary ammonium salt derived from a Cinchona alkaloid served as phase-transfer catalyst for the enantioselective alkylation of a glycine derivative. The active methylene group of this Schiff-base substrate was deprotonated with cesium hydroxide and rapidly alkylated by the 2-[18F]fluoro-4,5-dimethoxybenzyl halide (X = Br, I). The reaction proceeded with high yield (> 90%) at 0 °C or room temperature in various solvents such as toluene or dichloromethane. Preparation of the [18F]alkylating agent on a solid support was developed. After labelling, the labeled [18F]fluoroveratraldehyde was trapped on a tC18 cartridge and then converted on the cartridge into the corresponding benzyl halide derivatives by addition of aqueous sodium borohydride and gaseous hydrobromic or -iodic acid. Hydrolysis and purification by preparative HPLC made 6-[18F]fluoro-L-dopa ready for human injection in a 25−30% decay-corrected radiochemical yield in a synthesis time of 100 min. The product was found to be chemically, radiochemically and enantiomerically pure (ee > 95%). (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004)

Humans, like numerous other species, strongly rely on the observation of gestures of other individuals in their everyday life. It is hypothesized that the visual processing of human gestures is sustained by a specific functional architecture, even at an early prelexical cognitive stage, different from that required for the processing of other visual entities. In the present PET study, the neural basis of visual gesture analysis was investigated with functional neuroimaging of brain activity during naming and orientation tasks performed on pictures of either static gestures (upper-limb postures) or tridimensional objects. To prevent automatic object-related cerebral activation during the visual processing of postures, only intransitive postures were selected, i.e., symbolic or meaningless postures which do not imply the handling of objects. Conversely, only intransitive objects which cannot be handled were selected to prevent gesture-related activation during their visual processing. Results clearly demonstrate a significant functional segregation between the processing of static intransitive postures and the processing of intransitive tridimensional objects. Visual processing of objects elicited mainly occipital and fusiform gyrus activity, while visual processing of postures strongly activated the lateral occipitotemporal junction, encroaching upon area MT/V5, involved in motion analysis. These findings suggest that the lateral occipitotemporal junction, working in association with area MT/V5, plays a prominent role in the high-level perceptual analysis of gesture, namely the construction of its visual representation, available for subsequent recognition or imitation.