Reiman E M
Psychiatr Dev. 1987 Spring;5(1):63-78.
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a brain imaging technique which safely provides quantitative, regional measurements of biochemical and physiological processes. Because of its capabilities, PET is well suited to the study of psychiatric disorders. Among psychiatric disorders, panic disorder is especially well suited for study. Since anxiety attacks can be precipitated by biological agents, blocked by anti-panic medications, and studied in a laboratory setting, PET can be used to investigate the elements necessary for the generation and treatment of anxiety attacks. Recently, we employed PET to identify several abnormalities in a sub-group of patients with panic disorder. Patients with panic disorder who were vulnerable to lactate-induced anxiety attacks had abnormal hemispheric asymmetries of parahippocampal blood flow, blood volume, and oxygen metabolism; abnormally high whole brain metabolism; and abnormal susceptibility to episodic hyperventilation. This article reviews the current concepts of panic disorder; it provides an introduction to the components, capabilities and limitations of PET; and it describes the strategy now being employed at Washington University to investigate the neurobiology of panic disorder.
正电子发射断层扫描（PET）是一种脑成像技术，它能安全地提供生化和生理过程的定量区域测量。由于其功能，PET非常适合用于研究精神疾病。在精神疾病中，惊恐障碍尤其适合研究。由于焦虑发作可由生物制剂诱发、可被抗惊恐药物阻断且可在实验室环境中进行研究，PET可用于研究焦虑发作产生和治疗所需的要素。最近，我们利用PET识别了惊恐障碍患者亚组中的几种异常情况。易受乳酸诱发焦虑发作影响的惊恐障碍患者，其海马旁血流、血容量和氧代谢存在半球不对称异常；全脑代谢异常高；对发作性过度通气异常敏感。本文回顾了惊恐障碍的当前概念；介绍了PET的组成部分、功能和局限性；并描述了华盛顿大学目前用于研究惊恐障碍神经生物学的策略。
