title: Positron emission tomography imaging of the social brain of common marmosets.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a molecular imaging modality that can visualize functional neurochemical processes throughout the brain in the living condition, and is useful in bridging the gap between experimental animals and humans. We applied PET to common marmosets to study the brain mechanisms underlying social behaviors. Common marmosets are known for their high level of sociality within a cooperative breeding system, which is rare among non-human primates, and they could represent valuable animals for studying human-like social behaviors. PET successfully revealed a brain-molecular relationship underlying social traits and a functional brain network associated with social situations in common marmosets. Marmoset PET appears likely to prove useful in understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning social behaviors in both physiological and pathological conditions, and has potential for simulating psychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: Bio-Function Imaging Team, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies (CLST), 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan. Electronic address: chihiro@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.affiliation: Bio-Function Imaging Team, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies (CLST), 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onoe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002144:Callithrix / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009415:Nerve Net; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Common marmoset; Experimental animal; Neural network; PET; Serotonin; Social behavior