Research from RWTH Aachen University has provided new information about life sciences
2007 NOV 20 -- Fresh data on life sciences are presented in the report ''Prefrontal' cognitive performance of healthy subjects positively correlates with cerebral FDOPA influx: an exploratory [18F]-fluoro-L-DOPA-PET investigation.' "Dopamine neurotransmission influences those cognitive processes, which are generally regarded as prefrontal cortical functions. In previous positron-emission-tomography (PET) studies, net blood-brain clearance of [18F]-fluoro-l-DOPA (FDOPA) correlated with impaired cognitive performance in patients with Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia," researchers in Aachen, Germany report. "We hypothesized that FDOPA influx also correlates with performance of cognitive tasks associated with prefrontal functioning in healthy volunteers. The net blood-brain clearance of FDOPA (K(in)(app)) was mapped in a group of 11 healthy volunteers and calculated in striatal volumes-of-interest. The Wisconsin-Card-Sorting-Test (WCST), Stroop-Test, Trail-Making-Test (TMT-A/B), and Continuous-Performance-Test (CPT-M) had been administered previously to the same subjects. No correlation of K(in) (app) with perseverative errors in WCST or age could be found. However, there were significant positive correlations between the magnitude of K(in)(app) in caudate nucleus, putamen, and midbrain with performance of the TMT-B, CPT-M, and the Stroop test. Highest correlations were found between the time needed to perform the Stroop interference task and the K(in)(app) of striatal areas (Caudate nucleus: -0.780, p=0.005; putamen: -0.870, p<0. 001)," wrote I. Vernaleken and colleagues, RWTH Aachen University. The researchers concluded: "Thus, the present findings reveal a strong correlation between dopamine synthesis capacity in striatum of healthy volunteers and performance of cognitive tasks linked to the prefrontal cortex." Vernaleken and colleagues published their study in Human Brain Mapping ('Prefrontal' cognitive performance of healthy subjects positively correlates with cerebral FDOPA influx: an exploratory [18F]-fluoro-L-DOPA-PET investigation. Human Brain Mapping, 2007;28(10):931-9). For additional information, contact I. Vernaleken, RWTH Aachen University, Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen, Germany. Publisher contact information for the journal Human Brain Mapping is: Wiley-Liss, Division John Wiley & Sons Inc., 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. Keywords: Germany, Aachen, Life Sciences. This article was prepared by Science Letter editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Science Letter via NewsRx.com.
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