Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions
Published on: July 6, 2011
Sympathetic neuroimaging
1Clinical Neurocardiology Section, Clinical Neurosciences Program, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Abstract:
Sympathetic neuroimaging provides an important supplement to physiological, neurochemical, and neuropharmacological approaches in the evaluation of patients with clinical autonomic disorders. Almost all sympathetic neuroimaging to date has involved visualization of noradrenergic innervation in the left ventricular myocardium. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanning after injection of the sympathomimetic amine (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine ((123)I-MIBG) constitutes by far the most commonly used means worldwide to assess cardiac sympathetic innervation. Based on heart:mediastinum ratios of (123)I-MIBG-derived radioactivity, decreased uptake, increased washout, or both have been reported in many disorders and relate to diagnosis and prognosis. Cardiac sympathetic neuroimaging and postmortem neuropathological findings have linked α-synucleinopathy with noradrenergic denervation in Lewy body diseases. Especially because of the utility of cardiac sympathetic neuroimaging in distinguishing Parkinson disease from multiple system atrophy in patients with clinical evidence of central neurodegeneration and orthostatic hypotension, sympathetic neuroimaging seems a valuable addition to physiological, neuropharmacological, and neurochemical approaches in the diagnostic evaluation of selected patients with autonomic and neurodegenerative disorders.
Related Concept Videos
Sympathetic Activation
Brain Imaging
These technologies include computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scans), positron-emission tomography (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).
Sympathetic Signaling
Sympathetic preganglionic fibers release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) onto the ganglionic neurons in the...
The Sympathetic Nervous System
Imaging Studies IV: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Imaging Studies II: Positron Emission Tomography and Scintigraphy
Fundamental Principles of PET

