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Noninvasive Methodology (NMR)

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Abstract

Neuroimaging with MRI provides a noninvasive means to assess drug effects in vivo. In addition to the discovery of potential markers of psychopathology, MRI methods can be used to test existing and novel compounds. The assessments can be of metabolite levels, task-based brain activation, brain connectivity, drug-related activation, and quantitative perfusion. These methods are pharmacodynamic in nature and can also be used to describe pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic relationships. They complement emission tomography assessments of brain penetration and dose-occupancy relationships and can extend or even be a substitute for these methods when ligands are not available, with particular value when the desired outcome is intermediate markers of function. Limitations and challenges of these methods are intrinsic to the measurement, such as vascular artifacts, but they can be overcome with additional assessments.

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Correspondence to Mitul A. Mehta .

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Mehta, M.A. (2018). Noninvasive Methodology (NMR). In: Hock, F., Gralinski, M. (eds) Drug Discovery and Evaluation: Methods in Clinical Pharmacology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56637-5_46-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56637-5_46-1

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