Neuropharmakologische funktionelle bildgebung

Abstract

The marriage of psychopharmacology with functional neuroimaging enables the investigation of neurochemical modulation of cognitive functions in the human brain. From the point of basic neurocognitive research, pharmacological functional neuroimaging is hence a valuable completion of animal experiments. From the point of clinical neuroscience, pharmacological neuroimaging contributes to the understanding and development of pharmacological treatment approaches for patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders. The present paper provides an overview of the methodological approach and illustrates research findings and developments from pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of the last years by means of selective examples from the dopaminergic and cholinergic neurotransmitter system.