Central monoaminergic function as assessed by neurophysiological and functional neuroimaging techniques: combined studies in patients and healthy controls suggest clinical relevan…

Brain monoaminergic systems have an important modulating and stabilizing impact on numerous brain functions. Consequently alterations of monoaminergic neurotransmission have been suggested as pathophysiologically and pathogenetically relevant factors in neuropsychiatric disorders and the assessment of these systems in vivo might be of particular scientific and clinical interest. Neurophysiological parameters such as event related potentials (ERP) are modulated by brain neurochemistry, however, the assignment to specific transmitter functions is unclear so far. Nuclear medicine imaging techniques such as positron…