Decoding the Laminar Chemoarchitectonic Contribution to Brain Function in the Macaque

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 

The cortical and laminar distribution of neurotransmitter receptors is vital for brain function, yet the mechanisms for this remain poorly understood. High-resolution imaging of receptors is feasible only through ex vivo techniques like 2D autoradiography. We developed a 3D reconstruction algorithm, BrainBuilder[1], and used it to create 12 neurotransmitter receptor atlases for the macaque brain at 0.25mm³ resolution. Laminar receptor distributions from these atlases were compared with fMRI activation maps[2] and functional networks[3] to elucidate the role of neurotransmitters in brain function.