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Updated: Oct 2, 2025
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The Use of Pharmacological-challenge fMRI in Pre-clinical Research: Application to the 5-HT System
Published on: April 25, 2012
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Role of Brain Imaging in Drug Development for Psychiatry
Johan A den Boer1,2, Erik J F de Vries2, Ronald J H Borra2
1Scientific Affairs - PRA Health Sciences, Groningen, Netherlands.
Summary
Brain imaging offers new insights into psychiatric disease pathogenesis, but drug development remains limited. This review explores how advanced neuroimaging techniques and new theoretical frameworks can accelerate the creation of novel psychiatric therapeutics.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Brain imaging studies have advanced understanding of psychiatric disease pathogenesis.
- Despite progress, novel therapeutic drug development for psychiatric conditions remains limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- Review translational, diagnostic, and methodological challenges in CNS disorder drug development, focusing on psychiatry.
- Examine the role of preclinical models and opportunities for brain imaging (PET, fMRI) in early drug development.
- Emphasize collaboration between industry, academia, and clinical units for effective PET and fMRI application.
Main Methods:
- Critical review of preclinical models in psychiatric drug development.
- Discussion of brain imaging techniques, including Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).
- Analysis of translational, diagnostic, and methodological issues impacting drug development.
Main Results:
- Neuroimaging has provided valuable insights into psychiatric illnesses at various analytical levels.
- Brain imaging offers data on effective connectivity, functional connectivity, and neurochemical information.
- These insights can support both preclinical and clinical drug development.
Conclusions:
- A new theoretical framework is proposed to address the lack of unifying pathophysiological theories in psychiatric syndromes.
- This framework aims to define new treatment targets and enhance drug development in CNS diseases.
- Data-mining, mathematical modeling, and revised psychiatric classifications are suggested to identify new validated drug targets.
