Striatal dopamine D2/3 receptor-mediated neurotransmission in major depression: Implications for anhedonia, anxiety and treatment response.

ABSTRACT: Dopamine (DA) neurotransmission within the brain's reward circuit has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and in both, cognitive and pharmacological mechanisms of treatment response. Still, a direct relationship between measures of DA neurotransmission and reward-related deficits in patients with depression has not been demonstrated. To gain insight into the symptom-specific alterations in the DA system in patients with depression, we used positron emission tomography (PET) and the D_2/3 receptor-selective radiotracer [¹¹C]raclopride in twenty-three non-smoking un-medicated Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients and sixteen healthy controls (HC). We investigated the relationship between D_2/3 receptor availability and baseline measures of d

SUBMITTER: Pecina M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5623119 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature