Present Status and Future Trends of PET Tracers for Neuroscience Christer Halldin Psychiatry Section, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

Molecular biological techniques have now revealed the existence of several novel receptors for which little or no prior pharmacological or functional data existed. Due to the lack of data on the functional significance of these sites, pharmacologists are now challenged to find the physiological roles of these receptors and identify selective agents and possible therapeutic indications. During the past years various PET radioligands have been developed for labeling some of the major central neuroreceptor systems. There is still a need to develop pure selective PET tracers for the different receptor subtypes. This presentation will review recent examples in neuroreceptor radioligand development and the clinical potential of in vivo imaging of neurotransmitter systems.