• Edoardo R de Natale, Flavia Niccolini, Heather Wilson, and Marios Politis.
• Neurodegeneration Imaging Group, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
• Int Rev Neurobiol. 2018 Jan 1; 141: 131-172.

AbstractParkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic nigrostriatal connections which is recognized as the major pathophysiological event underlying the onset of motor symptoms. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging allow the study of these connections in vivo at a molecular level. Several radiotracers have been developed targeting the synthesis and metabolism of dopamine and dopaminergic receptors to investigate the nigrostriatal pathway in vivo. Molecular imaging has greatly increased our knowledge on the progression and natural history of PD, as well as the development of motor and non-motor symptoms. PET molecular imaging could be a reliable biomarker to aid earlier diagnosis and for monitoring disease progression. Furthermore, PET imaging could be used as outcome measure in the design of clinical trials testing novel pharmacological compounds aiming to slow, and ultimately halt, disease progression.© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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