POSITRON-EMISSION-TOMOGRAPHY IN PARKINSONISM

Positron emission tomography provides researchers and clinicians with information on cerebral bloodflow, metabolic pathways or neurotransmis sion systems, which may help to understand the physiopathology of move ment disorders. Studies of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway and data on cerebral glucose metabolism contribute to discriminate between parkinsonian syndromes. New techniques for image processing and stati stical analysis, and brain activation studies better emphasize dysfunc tion of cortico-subcortical neuronal networks responsible for movement disorders, or functional modification after therapeutic action.