Mirrione Martine M, Ruth Nora, Alexoff David, Logan Jean, Fowler Joanna, Kernan Maurice
Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT 06518; ; Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973;
Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973;
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2014 Mar 15;12(2):A114-22. eCollection 2014 Spring.
Neuroimaging techniques, including positron emission tomography (PET), are widely used in clinical settings and in basic neuroscience research. Education in these methods and their applications may be incorporated into curricula to keep pace with this expanding field. Here, we have developed pedagogical materials on the fundamental principles of PET that incorporate a hands-on laboratory activity to view and analyze human brain scans. In this activity, students will use authentic PET brain scans generated from original research at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Volkow et al., 2009) to explore the neurobiological effects of a drug on the dopamine system. We provide lecture and assignment materials (including a 50-minute PowerPoint presentation introducing PET concepts), written background information for students and instructors, and explicit instructions for a 4-hour, computer-based laboratory to interested educators. Also, we discuss our experience implementing this exercise as part of an advanced undergraduate laboratory course at Stony Brook University in 2010 and 2011. Observing the living human brain is intriguing, and this laboratory is designed to illustrate how PET neuroimaging techniques are used to directly probe biological processes occurring in the living brain. Laboratory course modules on imaging techniques such as PET can pique the interest of students potentially interested in neuroscience careers, by exposing them to current research methods. This activity provides practical experience analyzing PET data using a graphical analysis method known as the Logan plot, and applies core neuropharmacology concepts. We hope that this manuscript inspires college instructors to incorporate education in PET neuroimaging into their courses.
神经成像技术，包括正电子发射断层扫描（PET），在临床环境和基础神经科学研究中被广泛应用。这些方法及其应用方面的教育可以纳入课程，以跟上这个不断扩展的领域。在这里，我们开发了关于PET基本原理的教学材料，其中包含一个实践实验室活动，用于查看和分析人类脑部扫描图像。在这个活动中，学生将使用布鲁克海文国家实验室（Volkow等人，2009年）原始研究生成的真实PET脑部扫描图像，来探索一种药物对多巴胺系统的神经生物学影响。我们为感兴趣的教育工作者提供讲座和作业材料（包括一个介绍PET概念的50分钟PowerPoint演示文稿）、给学生和教师的书面背景信息，以及一个4小时基于计算机的实验室的详细说明。此外，我们还讨论了在2010年和2011年将这个练习作为石溪大学本科高级实验室课程一部分实施的经验。观察活体人类大脑很有趣，这个实验室旨在说明PET神经成像技术是如何用于直接探究活体大脑中发生的生物过程的。关于PET等成像技术的实验室课程模块，可以通过让学生接触当前的研究方法，激发对神经科学职业可能感兴趣的学生的兴趣。这个活动提供了使用一种称为洛根图的图形分析方法分析PET数据的实践经验，并应用了核心神经药理学概念。我们希望这篇论文能激励大学教师将PET神经成像教育纳入他们的课程。
