Determining effects of external stimuli on the brain using PET

Abstract

A method of evaluating the effects of administering an external stimuli or treatment such as a psychoactive compound, a drug, or an environmental influence like temperature, noise, vibration, light and similar sensory-perceived influences, on a subject's brain using imaging techniques with position emission tomography (PET). The method measures cerebral metabolism before and after administering the external stimuli or treatment, and employs a behavioral clamp to control behavioral influences on the subject's brain after administration of the external stimuli or treatment.

In the claims:  
     
         1 . A method for comparing unknown pharmaceutical compounds with known pharmaceutical compounds, the method comprising: 
 (a) using positron emission tomography to measure cerebral metabolism of a subject's or patient's brain prior to any treatment with an unknown pharmaceutical compound;    (b) administering the unknown pharmaceutical compound to a subject or patient;    (c) controlling behavioral influences on the subject or patient;    (d) using positron emission tomography to measure cerebral metabolism of the subject's or patient's brain after administering the unknown pharmaceutical compound to the subject or patient while controlling behavioral influences on the subject's or patient's brain; and    (e) comparing the cerebral metabolism of the subject or patient while exposed to the unknown pharmaceutical compound with the cerebral metabolism of the same or different subjects or patients while exposed to known pharmaceutical compounds.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein behavioral influences are controlled with a behavioral clamp.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the behavioral clamp comprises a visual monitoring task (VMT).  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of measuring the subject's or patient's mood both before and after administering the compound.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the step of measuring a subject's or patient's mood comprises administering a standard psychological test to the subject or patient.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the standard psychological test is a profile of mood states (POMS).