PET Scans

Question 1

What do PET scans allow us to see?

Answer 1

Activity in the brain

Question 2

What is the person injected with?

Answer 2

Radioactive glucose

Question 3

What does the scan detect?

Answer 3

Metabolism of substance and shows which parts of the brain are most active (using up energy) over a few minutes

Question 4

How do PET scans work?

Answer 4

1) a small amount of harmless radioactive material is injected into the participant
2) this radioactive material bonds to glucose molecules in the body forming a tracer
3) the brain uses glucose as energy- the areas of the brain which are most active (using the most energy) absorbs the tracer
4) the radioactive material emits positively charged particles (positrons) which are picked up by the scanner
5) this information allows a computer to produce coloured images of the level of activity occurring throughout the brain