Keyword: Turku PET Centre

The preliminary trial results of a novel radiopharmaceutical for PET imaging of inflammation developed at the University of Turku, Finland, have been published. The compound, which targets the vascular adhesion protein 1 (VAP-1) that regulates inflammatory cell traffic, is the first radiopharmaceutical that has been developed completely in Finland and has advanced to clinical trials. In the study that started with healthy volunteers, the radiopharmaceutical was found to be well tolerated and safe.

According to a Finnish study, the structure and function of the brain areas involved in emotions and their regulation are altered in both psychopathic criminal offenders and otherwise well-functioning individuals who have personality traits associated with psychopathy.

A Finnish research group has studied how seasons influence the function of the brain. Researchers at the Turku PET Centre showed that the length of daylight affects the opioid receptors, which in turn regulates the mood we experience.

Recently published research has indicated that folate receptor targeting therapy constrains inflammation in inflammatory demyelinating central nervous system lesions and may inhibit progression of the disease in animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). This research has been conducted in co-operation with Turku PET Centre, Purdue University and Endocyte Inc (now part of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, NIBR).

What happens in the brain when our conscious awareness of the surrounding world and of ourselves fades during general anesthesia and normal sleep? This fundamental question was studied with novel experimental designs and functional brain imaging by Finnish scientists. They succeeded in separating the specific changes related to consciousness from the more widespread overall effects, commonly misinterpreted as the neural correlates of consciousness. The effects of anesthesia and sleep on brain activity turned out to be surprisingly similar.

Researchers at the University of Turku have discovered what type of neural mechanisms are the basis for emotional responses to music. Altogether 102 research subjects listened to music that evokes emotions while their brain function was scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The study was carried out in the national PET Centre.

Finnish Biomedical Imaging Node FiBI has been accepted as a service-providing Node to the pan-European Euro-BioImaging consortium for imaging technologies. The new Node improves the prerequisites for conducting high quality research and increases the researchers’ opportunities for international collaboration.

A new study conducted in Turku reveals how symptoms indicating depression and anxiety are linked to brain function changes already in healthy individuals.

Opioids regulate the feelings of pleasure and pain in the brain. A study by the national Turku PET Centre shows that age, sex and smoking influence μ-opioid receptor density in the brain. The results of the study help to better understand the differences between individuals when it comes to neuropsychiatric disorders.

Human emotion system laboratory team at the University of Turku and Turku PET Centre introduces a fully automated method for acute ischemic lesion segmentation on brain MRIs and shows how artificial intelligence can reduce the work load of radiologists.