Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Rapid Quantitative Pharmacodynamic Imaging By A Novel Method: Theory, Simulation Testing And Proof Of Principle, Kevin J. Black, Jonathan M. Koller, Brad D. Miller

Kevin J. Black, MD

Pharmacological challenge imaging has mapped, but rarely quantified, the sensitivity of a biological system to a given drug. We describe a novel method called rapid quantitative pharmacodynamic imaging. This method combines pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling, repeated small doses of a challenge drug over a short time scale, and functional imaging to rapidly provide quantitative estimates of drug sensitivity including EC50 (the concentration of drug that produces half the maximum possible effect). We first test the method with simulated data, assuming a typical sigmoidal dose-response curve and assuming imperfect imaging that includes artifactual baseline signal drift and random error. With these few assumptions, …

Towards Objectively Quantifying Sensory Hypersensitivity: A Pilot Study Of The “Ariana Effect.”, Vassilis N. Panagopoulos, Deanna J. Greene, Meghan C. Campbell, Kevin J. Black

Kevin J. Black, MD

Background. Normally one habituates rapidly to steady, faint sensations. People with sensory hypersensitivity (SH), by contrast, continue to attend to such stimuli and find them noxious. SH is common in Tourette syndrome (TS) and autism, and methods to quantify SH may lead to better understanding of these disorders. In an attempt to objectively quantify SH severity, the authors tested whether a choice reaction time (CRT) task was a sensitive enough measure to detect significant distraction from a steady tactile stimulus, and to detect significantly greater distraction in subjects with more severe SH.

Methods. Nineteen ambulatory adult volunteers with varying scores …

Spatial Reorganization Of Putaminal Dopamine D2-Like Receptors In Cranial And Hand Dystonia, Kevin J. Black, Abraham Z. Snyder, Jonathan W. Mink, Veeral N. Tolia, Fredy J. Revilla, Stephen M. Moerlein, Joel S. Perlmutter

Kevin J. Black, MD

No abstract provided.