Neuroimaging Human Dopamine-Related Neurophysiology Across Development

Measures of dopamine (DA) in vivo in humans have been obtained using positron emission tomography (PET), however, its invasive nature and exposure to radioactivity has limited its application to populations such as pediatric cohorts. Brain tissue iron measured noninvasively with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been found to be linked to DA neurophysiology in the basal ganglia, providing a novel approach for in vivo human characterization of DA function. This chapter describes the links between brain tissue iron and DA neurophysiology, the MRI approaches available to measure it, and application to understanding development and disease. The literature characterizing brain tissue iron in DA neurophysiology and new advances in MRI approaches to measure it support this as an innovative and promising approach to understand the DAergic mechanisms underlying lifespan development and disease.