JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments
Neurowetenschap
0 weergaven • 1:00 min • May 29th, 2025
A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, impairs blood flow to the impacted regions and disrupts the activity of dopaminergic neurons.
To investigate TBI-associated disruptions, begin by intravenously injecting a lipophilic radioactive tracer into a patient.
The tracer travels through the cerebral vessels and diffuses into cells of the cortical and subcortical brain tissue.
Perform single photon emission computed tomography, or SPECT, to detect the tracer-emitted radiation. The resulting signal intensity at each location corresponds directly to the level of regional cerebral blood flow.
Brain regions affected by TBI produce lower signal intensity compared to healthy regions, reflecting abnormalities in cerebral blood flow caused by TBI-associated disruptions in brain function.