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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Am J Psychiatry. 2011 Oct 31;169(1):55–63. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11010126

Table 5.

Glossary table for technical terms used in the manuscript

Terms Definition
dopaminergic terminal pre-synaptic axons that contains dopaminergic vesicles
vesicular membrane membranous vesicles that encapsulate and store neurotransmitters within the cytoplasm of pre-synaptic axons
vesicular dopamine dopamine that is sequestered in a vesicular membrane
vesicular monoamine transporter, type 2 (VMAT2) availability VMAT2 that is available for binding to [11C]DTBZ
dopamine transporter availability dopamine transporter that is available for binding to its radiotracer
arterial input function concentration of radiotracer in blood as a function of time
plasma free fraction the fraction of the radioligand that is not bound to plasma proteins at equilibrium
kinetic analysis an analysis that derives information about neuroreceptor PET outcome measures by estimating the rate constants governing transfer between the plasma and brain compartments (requires arterial blood sampling).
reference tissue method an analysis that derives information about neuroreceptor PET outcome measures when blood sampling is not possible