Update on PET glucose neuroimaging

Summary Positron emission tomography with 18F-deoxyglucose yields high-resolution images of brain activity with accurate quantification of a fundamental property of central nervous system function, cerebral glucose metabolic rate. Alone among brain-imaging modalities, the deoxyglucose method can be applied with microscopic resolution in animal studies, permitting detailed comparison of pharmacological response in both human and non-human experiments. In schizophrenia, metabolic imaging has identified functional changes in components of the fronto-striato-thalamic circuits and the temporal lobe, and visualized changes with neuroleptic, anxiolytic and antidepressant treatment.