TY - JOUR SN - 0214-0934 VL - 12 A1 - Teipel, Stefan J. A1 - Hampel, Harald A1 - Pietrini, Pietro A1 - Moller, Hans-Jurgen A1 - Rapoport, Stanley I. Y1 - 1999/// ID - eprints3451 TI - PET in alzheimer's disease--From resting-state to activation studies AV - none JF - Drug News & Perspectives N2 - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative process associated with aging. Due to the relative increase in the elderly population in industrialized countries, AD has evolved to a significant challenge for Western societies with regard to socioeconomic resources, clinical and family care and research capacities. Much progress has been made over the last years using neuroimaging methods to better understand brain structure and function in healthy aging and in AD. This article describes the influence of positron emission tomography (PET) studies on the paradigm shift towards a more functionally oriented view of the disease. Special emphasis is put on the contribution of PET to our knowledge of AD pathophysiology and on its use in clinical differential diagnosis. We examine new analysis techniques that have been implemented in recent years to interpret PET data, including discriminant and path analysis, as well as neural network modeling. In addition, we review activation paradigms that have been used in AD-PET studies since 1987. We summarize evidence about altered cognitive processing in AD derived from PET studies during subject stimulation that supports the maintenance of neuronal plasticity in early AD. We further review the differential diagnostic power of PET. In conclusion, we outline present use and future perspectives of activation PET for clinical trials in which drug efficacy in AD can be predicted and monitored. © 1999 Prous Science. All rights reserved. UR - http://doi.org/10.1358/dnp.1999.12.2.863623 IS - 2 ER -