PET Imaging in Cocaine Self Administration

There has been recent interest in the role of the 5-HT1B receptor as a possible modulating factor in cocaine dependence, certainly in preclinical models. The Yale Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Center has developed a novel 5-HT1B receptor antagonist radioligand, \[11C\]-P943, which has been validated in human studies. We hypothesize that the 5-HT1B receptor plays a key role in cocaine dependence. The long term goal of this project would be to study pharmacological manipulation of the 5-HT1B receptor as a potential molecular target for cocaine dependence.