Rapid 18F-FDG Uptake in Brain of Awake, Behaving Rat and Anesthetized Chicken has Implications for Behavioral PET Studies in Species With High Metabolisms

Brain-behavior studies using 18F-FDG PET aim to reveal brain regions that become active during behavior. In standard protocols, 18F-FDG is injected, the behavior is executed during 30-60 min of tracer uptake, and then the animal is anesthetized and scanned. Hence, the uptake of 18F-FDG is not itself observed and could, in fact, be complete in very little time. This has implications for behavioral studies because uptake is assumed to reflect...