IMAGES OF THE WORKING BRAIN - UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BRAIN-FUNCTION WITHPOSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

In the past 15 years positron emission tomography (PET) has become a s ettled method of imaging the functioning human brain, both in normal v olunteers and in patients with Various disorders. Much of the work on sensory systems has been on the visual system, a conveniently studied and very important part of the brain. The motor system in health and d isease has attracted as much interest. In this short review I will exp lain some of the technical aspects of PET, and illustrate some of the research that has been done on visual and motor brain function in the human. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.