Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 May 15;46(1):31-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.01.049. Epub 2009 Feb 5.

Cerebral morphology and dopamine D2/D3 receptor distribution in humans: a combined [18F]fallypride and voxel-based morphometry study

Neil D Woodward  1 , David H Zald, Zhaohua Ding, Patrizia Riccardi, M Sib Ansari, Ronald M Baldwin, Ronald L Cowan, Rui Li, Robert M Kessler
Affiliations

Cerebral morphology and dopamine D2/D3 receptor distribution in humans: a combined [18F]fallypride and voxel-based morphometry study

Neil D Woodward et al. Neuroimage. .

Erratum in

  • Neuroimage. 2009 Oct 1;47(4):2090

Abstract

The relationship between cerebral morphology and the expression of dopamine receptors has not been extensively studied in humans. Elucidation of such relationships may have important methodological implications for clinical studies of dopamine receptor ligand binding differences between control and patient groups. The association between cerebral morphology and dopamine receptor distribution was examined in 45 healthy subjects who completed T1-weighted structural MRI and PET scanning with the D(2)/D(3) ligand [(18)F]fallypride. Optimized voxel-based morphometry was used to create grey matter volume and density images. Grey matter volume and density images were correlated with binding potential (BP(ND)) images on a voxel-by-voxel basis using the Biological Parametric Mapping toolbox. Associations between cerebral morphology and BP(ND) were also examined for selected regions-of-interest (ROIs) after spatial normalization. Voxel-wise analyses indicated that grey matter volume and density positively correlated with BP(ND) throughout the midbrain, including the substantia nigra. Positive correlations were observed in medial cortical areas, including anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex, and circumscribed regions of the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes. ROI analyses revealed significant positive correlations between BP(ND) and cerebral morphology in the caudate, thalamus, and amygdala. Few negative correlations between morphology and BP(ND) were observed. Overall, grey matter density appeared more strongly correlated with BP(ND) than grey matter volume. Cerebral morphology, particularly grey matter density, correlates with [(18)F]fallypride BP(ND) in a regionally specific manner. Clinical studies comparing dopamine receptor availability between clinical and control groups may benefit by accounting for potential differences in cerebral morphology that exist even after spatial normalization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Grey matter volume correlations with binding potential. Statistical parametric map corrected at whole-brain cluster-wise p<.05. Axial images displayed in neurological format (i.e. left side of brain on left side of image).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Grey matter density correlations with binding potential. Statistical parametric map corrected at whole-brain cluster-wise p<.05. Axial images displayed in neurological format (i.e. left side of brain on left side of image).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Grey matter density correlations with binding potential overlaid on a surface rendering of the customized template brain derived from 45 subjects. Statistical parametric map corrected at whole-brain cluster-wise p<.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alvarez C, Vitalis T, Fon EA, Hanoun N, Hamon M, Seif I, Edwards R, Gaspar P, Cases O. Effects of genetic depletion of monoamines on somatosensory cortical development. Neuroscience. 2002;115:753–764. - PubMed
    1. Ashburner J, Friston KJ. Voxel-based morphometry--the methods. Neuroimage. 2000;11:805–821. - PubMed
    1. Benes FM, Paskevich PA, Davidson J, Domesick VB. The effects of haloperidol on synaptic patterns in the rat striatum. Brain Res. 1985;329:265–273. - PubMed
    1. Breier A, Kestler L, Adler C, Elman I, Wiesenfeld N, Malhotra A, Pickar D. Dopamine D2 receptor density and personal detachment in healthy subjects. Am J Psychiatry. 1998;155:1440–1442. - PubMed
    1. Buchsbaum MS, Christian BT, Lehrer DS, Narayanan TK, Shi B, Mantil J, Kemether E, Oakes TR, Mukherjee J. D2/D3 dopamine receptor binding with [F-18]fallypride in thalamus and cortex of patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2006;85:232–244. - PubMed

Publication types