Translational Molecular Neuroimaging · Aarhus University
Landau Lab.
We investigate how brain disorders and treatments affect molecular signalling
and brain function, with a particular focus on Parkinson's disease and depression.
A PET tracer is a molecule that binds a specific target, labelled with a short-lived radioactive atom and given in trace amounts. When the atom decays it emits a positron, which soon meets an electron: the two annihilate into a pair of gamma photons travelling in almost opposite directions.
The scanner records these pairs in coincidence, and reconstruction turns millions of them into images of radioactivity. Kinetic modelling of those images over time then gives a measure of binding to the target, like the map this sequence ends on.
Linespairs of photons detected together
Imagereconstructed from the events so far
Final framethe published binding map
Published data
20 thousand1 billionPublished
The published result: [11C]yohimbine binding in a minipig brain, from kinetic modelling of the scan.
Simulated Detection and reconstruction (filtered back-projection with counting noise), using the published map as if it were a map of radioactivity.
Published data The final frame: [11C]yohimbine VT, a binding measure from kinetic modelling; minipig, baseline, coronal slice. Landau et al., Biomolecules 2023 · doi:10.3390/biom13040674 · CC BY 4.0, cropped; text labels removed.
Scan the same brain again, and the map can change.
[11C]yohimbine binds α2 adrenoceptors. In minipigs its binding fell after drugs that raise noradrenaline, while microdialysis in the same animals measured the rise in extracellular noradrenaline; the two changes were inversely correlated.
Published data [11C]yohimbine VT in a minipig, same colour scale: baseline, and 8 minutes and 4 hours after nisoxetine, a drug that raises noradrenaline. Landau et al., Biomolecules 2023 · doi:10.3390/biom13040674 · CC BY 4.0, cropped; text labels removed.
Four research themes, connected by a shared platform of imaging methods and biological validation.
1Scroll: the drawing follows the theme you are reading.
2Press the buttons under Try it to see what changes.
Schematic: drawn for illustration, not data.
Scale · molecule
01
02
03
04
Schematic
cAMP
01Theme
Dopamine signalling and GPR6
We study dopamine signalling and the role of the G protein-coupled receptor 6 (GPR6) in striatal function and behaviour — and develop tools that lay the groundwork for imaging GPR6 in the living brain.
Try it Demo playing · press to take over
GPR6 is active even without a known activating molecule, and raises cAMP inside the cell. Add the inverse agonist and watch the cAMP meter.
What you are seeingGPR6 spans the cell membrane and signals through the G protein Gs, raising cAMP. CVN424, a GPR6 inverse agonist in clinical development for Parkinson's disease, turns that signal down; it is not an approved treatment.
Where imaging comes inThere is not yet an established PET tracer for GPR6. Our tool-development work lays the groundwork for future imaging of GPR6 in the living brain.
We use imaging of the synaptic vesicle protein SV2A, including PET with [11C]UCB-J, to investigate changes associated with disease and treatment — and how they relate to synaptic density.
Try it · what changed? Demo playing · press to take over
Two nerve terminals, each full of vesicles carrying SV2A. The tracer binds SV2A, so the signal follows how many SV2A sites are available to bind.
The pointThree different changes, one similar drop in signal. PET alone cannot tell them apart, which is why we compare it with measurements in brain tissue.
We use PET to investigate how interventions such as deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation affect brain function and molecular processes, connecting animal models with clinical research.
Try it · choose the route Demo playing · press to take over
DBS delivers electrical pulses through a lead implanted deep in the brain. Pulses ripple out to connected regions.
From our papersIn healthy rats, [11C]UCB-J PET showed lower SV2A binding after 30 minutes of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation, while [18F]FDG PET showed no clear change in glucose metabolism (Binda et al. 2025). In the pig, deep brain stimulation activated NMDA receptor ion channels, visualised with [18F]GE-179 PET (Vibholm et al. 2020).
What you are seeingPulses from a DBS lead, or volleys arriving along the vagus nerve, ripple out to connected regions. Brain outline traced from the MNI152 template.
We develop and apply imaging approaches to study neuroinflammation and glial responses in models of neurological and psychiatric disease, including the molecular targets TSPO and CSF1R.
Try it Demo playing · press to take over
Near a local insult, microglia pull in their branches, swell and express more TSPO, one of the molecular targets for imaging neuroinflammation. Move your pointer over the drawing to move the insult.Tap the drawing to place the insult.
From our papers [3H]PK11195 autoradiography of TSPO binding sites in postmortem frontal cortex from a non-demented subject and a patient with Alzheimer's disease, beside non-specific binding. Metaxas et al., Front Cell Neurosci 2019 · doi:10.3389/fncel.2019.00538 · CC BY 4.0, Fig. 2A, cropped.Neuroinflammation papers →
No single measurement tells the whole story. We combine PET and quantitative autoradiography with behavioural testing and analyses of brain tissue — so that each can test, sharpen or explain what the others show.
Where the measurements overlap, evidence is strongest. None of them has to come first.
PET · the living brain
Sees where a tracer binds in the living brain, over time — repeatable in the same animal, and used in people too.
Alone, can't resolve fine anatomical detail, or say which cellular change lies behind a change in binding.
Autoradiography & tissue · brain sections
Sees binding on thin brain sections at far finer detail, with specificity checked directly — alongside histological, molecular and neurochemical analyses.
Alone, can't follow change over time: each brain gives one time point.
Behaviour · function
Sees what animals do — for example motor function, sensitivity to pain, or behaviours used to model aspects of depression.
Alone, can't explain mechanism: behaviour has many causes.
A worked example
When two methods agree
In rats with a one-sided striatal lesion made with quinolinic acid at two doses, [11C]UCB-J PET in the living brain and [3H]UCB-J autoradiography of brain sections found closely matching losses of SV2A binding on the lesioned side.
Another check. The study behind the [11C]yohimbine maps at stop 01 tested the PET signal against microdialysis: a direct measure of extracellular noradrenaline, taken at the same time in the same animals.
Loss of SV2A binding, lesioned vs intact side
20 µg QA
39.3%
38.4%
40 µg QA
55.1%
52.5%
0204060%
[11C]UCB-J PET, living brain[3H]UCB-J autoradiography, sections
Published data Thomsen et al., J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2021 · doi:10.1177/0271678X20931140. QA, quinolinic acid. PET values are VT.
Choosing the model
From rodents to Göttingen minipigs
Rodents
Rats and mice let us combine imaging with detailed behavioural testing and tissue analyses in larger groups, and use genetic and pharmacological approaches to change a target directly.
Minipigs
Minipigs have larger, folded brains that can be scanned on clinical PET/CT systems, with arterial blood sampling for full quantification — which brings preclinical measurements closer to those in people.
Collaborations in radiochemistry, MRI, molecular biology, histology and neurosurgery support tracer development and validation, experimental interventions and interpretation of imaging findings.
Published dataPET in Göttingen minipigs. μ-opioid ([11C]carfentanil) and dopamine D2/3 ([11C]raclopride) receptor binding before and after sucrose. Winterdahl et al., Sci Rep 2019;9:16918 · doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53430-9 · CC BY 4.0, whole figure, unmodified.
Want to see which measurements answer which question?
Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit · Department of Clinical Medicine · Aarhus University
Anne leads the lab's work in translational molecular neuroimaging: how brain disorders and treatments affect molecular signalling and brain function, with a particular focus on Parkinson's disease and depression.
We welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students, postdocs and project students with an interest in molecular imaging, neuroscience and translational research.
Compiled from ORCID, Crossref and PubMed and checked in September 2026, as on the publications page. Some papers belong to more than one theme, some to none. Hover or tap a dot for the title.
![Published PET map of a minipig brain, coronal slice: [11C]yohimbine binding, highest in the centre of the brain.](/assets/home-c/img/real-coronal.webp)
![Published figure: PET images of minipig brains in sagittal view. Top rows: [11C]carfentanil binding potential at baseline, after initial sucrose exposure and after 12 days of exposure. Bottom row: [11C]raclopride binding potential at baseline and after 12 days.](/assets/home-c/img/winterdahl2019-scirep-fig1.jpg)
