Past Issues

Psychiatrists have used the concept of "psychic" to explain mental disorders for several decades. However, modern brain imaging study opens a new era for psychiatry. Mental disorders are not explained by psychic but biological basis. Brain image helps us to understand the pathophysiology and treatment of psychiatric diseases. Nuclear medicine technique such as position emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is one of commonly used brain imaging techniques which can be use to visualize neuroreceptor in the living human brain. Dopamine and serotonin receptors are both earliest neurotransmitter systems for the target of neuroreceptor mapping in the human brain. The technique has been increasingly used for clinical and pharmaceutical studies. However, the technique of neuroreceptor image is not user friendly. This overview is going to focus on the development of neuroreceptor imaging, the basic theories, current clinical application and future research. The aim of this article is to let readers and researchers understand the current status of neuroreceptor image and the future in psychiatry. (Full text in Chinese)