Quantitative receptor autoradiography in the human brain. Methodical aspects.

Quantitative receptor autoradiography on sections of the human brain raises methodical problems of which some are relevant also for studies in animal tissue, but others are unique in studies of human brain tissue. Procedures for the following methodical aspects are discussed: image analysis for quantitation of the regional distribution of receptor densities, saturation analysis on autoradiographs, influence of age and post-mortem delay and quenching of beta-radiation in brain tissue. The solutions proposed to these problems make receptor autoradiography in the human brain to a reliable method for studies of chemical neuroanatomy.