Synaptic and neural function
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study of synaptic markers and their relationship to neural function in healthy volunteers and patients diagnosed with mental disorders
IRAS ID
209761
Contact name
Oliver Howes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
Mental health disorders are currently treated based on symptoms. As their origin is poorly understood, diagnosis is based on the physician’s judgement and often results in poor outcome. Efforts to make diagnosis in an unbiased manner are ongoing and one of the main goals of this project is to identify markers to better diagnose mental illness. Abnormality in nerve connections have been linked to mental illness especially in those where psychosis is present. Neurotransmitters are chemicals released in nerve junctions known as synapses and they help in their communication. One of the suggestions in psychotic illness the number of synapses (nerve junctions) present in the developing brain is less. The main challenge is to identify the number of synapses in a non-invasive manner in the living human brain.
The availability of a specific molecule (a ‘radiotracer’) which can be labelled with a small amount of radioactivity and imaged using a special scanner (PET – Positron emission tomography) has opened the possibility to measure nerve junctions (synapses). The specific molecule targets a protein present only in nerve junction sites and hence will inform us of the number of nerve junctions. In addition volunteers will also be given another radiotracer to measure the function of a key component of cells (mitochondria function) which is linked to synapse formation. Volunteers will also undergo an MRI scan to obtain their brain structural image. In addition we This is an academically study supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and co-sponsored by King’s College London (KCL) and the South London and Maudsley NHS trust. Patients diagnosed with psychotic illness will be recruited from SLaM NHS and screened by doctors at KCL will be compared to healthy volunteers. All scans will be carried out at the Hammersmith Hospital campus (IMANOVA and Robert Steiner MRI Unit).
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1941
Date of REC Opinion
22 Dec 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion