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PET imaging is a powerful tool for measuring physiological changes in the brain during deep brain stimulation (DBS). In this work, we acquired five PET scans using a highly selective D2/D3 dopamine antagonist, 18F-fallypride, to track changes in dopamine receptor availability, as measured by the distribution volume ratio (DVR), through the course of DBS in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in a nonhuman primate.

PET scans were performed on a rhesus monkey with unilateral BNST stimulation during periods of baseline, chronic high frequency (130Hz) and low frequency (50Hz) DBS stimulation, and during a washout period between stimulation periods. A final scan was performed with the electrode stimulation starting 110min into the scan. Whole brain parametric images of ¹⁸F-fallypride DVR were calculated for each condition to track changes in both striatal and extrastriatal D2/D3 …