Advances in Metabolic Mapping Techniques for Brain Imaging of Behavioral and Learning Functions

In recent years, revolutionary technical advances have permitted neuroscientists to map the functioning of the brain in exquisite detail. Of interest are the new techniques that visually display cell energy metabolism which is coupled to functional brain activity in behaving animals.

This is the first book dealing with the application of 2-deoxyglucose and related metabolic mapping techniques for brain imaging of behavioral and learning functions. Quantitative autoradiographic techniques based on the use of exogenous markers include radiolabeled glucose and its analogs, especially 2-deoxyglucose and fluorodeoxyglucose. Other mapping techniques are based on the histochemical staining of endogenous metabolic markers such as cytochrome oxidase, as well as immunohistochemistry for expression of c-fos genes. In spite of the great potential capabilities of the new imaging techniques, relatively few neuroscientists are using this approach to study brain functions related to behavior. There is a need to review state-of-the-art applications of these methods in behavioral neuroscience, and to formulate recommendations for future research in this area. This book is intended to fulfill these needs by bringing together leading neuroscientists using metabolic mapping approaches to elucidate brain mechanisms of behavior. Discussions are not limited to one animal species, but they cover a broad range of vertebrates with unique behavioral capabilities.