Bradley T. Christian
Ph.D. , University of Wisconsin-Madison
Director of PET Physics, Waisman Brain Imaging Lab
Assistant Professor of Medical Physics and Psychiatry

Contact Information:
Waisman Center
UW-Madison
1500 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53705
Phone: (608) 890-0750
Fax: (608) 262-9440
E-mail: bchristian@wisc.edu

Research Statement

Our research focuses on developing and translating novel PET methods for the study of neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatric illness. This involves using PET methodologies to investigate neurochemical changes in the brain and studying novel radioligands to characterize neurotransmitter-protein interactions and how they are influenced by development, genes, environment and drugs. These imaging methods are being applied to investigate the etiologies and mechanisms in diseases such as Down syndrome, affective disorders, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and Tourette syndrome.

Representative Publications

Christian BT, Narayanan TK, Shi B, Morris ED, Mantil J, Mukherjee J. (2004) Measuring the In Vivo Parameters of [18F]-Fallypride in Monkeys Using a PET Multiple-Injection Protocol. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 24(3): 309-322.

Lehrer DS, Christian BT, Mantil J, Murray A, Buchsbaum BR, Oakes TR, Byne W, Buchsbaum MS. (2005) Thalamic and prefrontal FDG uptake in never-medicated patients with schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry. 162:132-138.

Mukherjee J, Christian BT, Narayanan T, Shi B, Collins BT.(2005) Measurement of d-amphetamine-induced effects on the binding of dopamine D2/D3 receptor radioligand, [F-18]fallypride in the extrastriatal brain regions in nonhuman primates using PET. Brain Research 1032(1-2):77-84.

Muzic RF, Christian BT. (2006) Evaluation of Objective Functions for Estimation of Kinetic Parameters. Medical Physics, Feb;33(2):342-53.

Christian BT, Lehrer DL, Shi B, Narayanan TK, Strohmeyer PS, Buchsbaum MS, Mantil JC.(2006) Measuring Dopamine Neuromodulation in the Thalamus: Using [F-18]fallypride PET to study dopamine release during a spatial attention task NeuroImageMay 15;31(1):139-52.