While verbal memory decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease has been well documented, a similarly relevant area of research has gone relatively uncharted until now. Those affected by the neurodegenerative disease also suffer loss of nonverbal memory function and researchers are mapping the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on brain regions dedicated to this area of cognition and finding newly blazed trails of neural activity, according to a study published April 26 in Neurology.

For patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma, volumetric data derived from quantitative PET imaging could provide more precision staging and inform physicians about patient survival, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

A PET imaging technique gleaning information about both dopamine terminal integrity and amyloid burden in the brain may help researchers classify forms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and predict dementia risk, according to a study published online April 9 in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

An increasing number of studies are exploring the possibilities of cognitive reserve in Alzheimer’s patients with higher education levels. Specific neural networks have been found in an area of the prefrontal cortex that light up in educated subjects and compensate for neural damage in the beginning stages of the disease, according to research published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

A comparison between glucose mimicking F-18 FDG and F-18 FLT, which tracks cell proliferation, pegged F-18 FDG PET/CT as a better imaging technique for the diagnosis of differentiated thyroid metastases, according to a study published in the April issue of Radiology. 

(Knoxville, TN, UNITED STATES) April 11, 2013– ABT Molecular Imaging, Inc., in Knoxville, TN, has successfully achieved the installation and clinical use of its next-generation Biomarker Generator by the Sveta Marina University Hospital in Bulgaria. ABT’s next-generation product integrates a compact accelerator and micro-chemistry with integrated quality control, for single-dose biomarker production.

Eli Lilly and Company has acquired a pair of PET tracers from Siemens. The investigational tracers are designed to target the tau deposits that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Lilly’s wholly owned subsidiary, will develop and validate the tracers, according to Lilly.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced it has acquired two investigational positron emission tomography (PET) tracers from Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. The tracers are intended to image tau (or neurofibrillary) tangles in the brain, one of two known hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Based on studies of samples obtained at autopsy, the amount and location of tau tangles in an Alzheimer's disease patient's brain is thought to correlate with the severity of the disease. There are currently no approved diagnostics to detect tau tangles in living patients, creating challenges for scientists working to understand the progression of the disease and how therapies may impact it.