• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.74-78
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• 2011

Although recent studies have shown the usibility of [F-18]FDG small animal Positron Emission Tommography (PET) as a functional neuroimaging technique in behavioural small animal study, researches showing the detection power of functional changes in the brain are still limited. Thus, in the study, we performed [F-18]FDG small animal PET neuroimaging in the well-established fear behavioural experiment. Twelve rats were exposed on cat for 30 minutes after the [F-18]FDG injection. As a result, the brain activity in bilateral amygdala areas significantly increased in the fear condition. In addition, the fear condition evoked the functional activities of hypothalamus, which seemed to be related to the response to stress. These clear localization of fear related brain regions may reflect that a functional neuroimaging technique using [F-18]FDG small animal PET has functional detectibility enough to be applied in small animal behavioral research.