Mika Naganawa, PhD

2026

• Widespread synaptic density loss in schizophrenia follows molecular and network architecture

  Chopra S, Worhunsky P, Naganawa M, Zhang X, Segal A, Labache L, Orchard E, Cropley V, Wood S, Angarita G, Cosgrove K, Matuskey D, Nabulsi N, Huang Y, Carson R, Esterlis I, Skosnik P, D’Souza D, Holmes A, Radhakrishnan R. Widespread synaptic density loss in schizophrenia follows molecular and network architecture. Molecular Psychiatry 2026, 1-12. PMID: 42350786, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03717-x.

  Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus Statements

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• Lower Muscarinic M1 Receptor Availability in Schizophrenia: In Vivo PET Evidence

  Volpi T, Radhakrishnan R, Hird R, Naganawa M, Nabulsi N, Najafzadeh S, Jacutin-Porte S, Labaree D, Carson R, Huang Y, D'Souza D. Lower Muscarinic M1 Receptor Availability in Schizophrenia: In Vivo PET Evidence. Biological Psychiatry 2026 PMID: 42285196, DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.06.002.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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• Optimization of brain PET markerless head motion correction in a large human cohort

  Zeng T, Zhang J, Gallezot J, Fontaine K, Jiang W, Gravel P, Mulnix T, Naganawa M, Yang Z, Zhang X, Wang S, Sun X, Hu L, Carson R. Optimization of brain PET markerless head motion correction in a large human cohort. EJNMMI Physics 2026 PMID: 42213388, DOI: 10.1186/s40658-026-00885-1.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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• Lower synaptic density in mood circuitry underlies depression in Parkinson’s disease

  Cayir S, Naganawa M, Volpi T, Sadabad F, Dias M, Yang Y, Elliott S, Ansari M, Elshahat A, Pittman B, Esterlis I, Nabulsi N, Huang Y, Sanacora G, Comley R, Finnema S, Carson R, Tinaz S, Matuskey D, Holmes S. Lower synaptic density in mood circuitry underlies depression in Parkinson’s disease. Brain Communications 2026, 8: fcag136. PMID: 42109687, PMCID: PMC13152014, DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcag136.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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• Optimized reference region and the effect on test-retest reliability and sensitivity to differences between Parkinson’s disease and control groups with [11C]UCB-J

  Khattar N, Matuskey D, Gallezot J, Naganawa M, Holmes S, Sadabad F, Mayeli M, Esterlis I, van Dyck C, Mecca A, D’Souza D, Nabulsi N, Finnema S, Huang Y, Carson R, Toyonaga T. Optimized reference region and the effect on test-retest reliability and sensitivity to differences between Parkinson’s disease and control groups with [11C]UCB-J. Journal Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Metabolism : Official Journal Of The International Society Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Metabolism 2026, 0271678x261441071. PMID: 41960765, PMCID: PMC13068773, DOI: 10.1177/0271678x261441071.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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• Synaptic density imaging in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia: A comparison of 18F‐SynVesT‐1 and 18F‐FDG PET

  Fesharaki‐Zadeh A, Cayir S, Ibrahim W, Yang Y, Gallezot J, Naganawa M, Wu Y, Toyonaga T, Sadabad F, O'Dell R, Pittman B, Nabulsi N, Strittmatter S, Carson R, Huang Y, van Dyck C, Mecca A, Matuskey D. Synaptic density imaging in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia: A comparison of 18F‐SynVesT‐1 and 18F‐FDG PET. Alzheimer's & Dementia 2026, 22: e71283. PMID: 41954197, PMCID: PMC13063251, DOI: 10.1002/alz.71283.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

  This study investigates synaptic density imaging in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, showing that SV2A PET detects more pronounced synaptic loss than glucose hypometabolism using FDG PET, aiding early diagnosis and monitoring.

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• Dose Reduction in Dynamic PET Imaging Using Self-Supervised Two-Step Deep Image Prior

  Li A, Syed M, Naganawa M, Matuskey D, Carson R, Tang J. Dose Reduction in Dynamic PET Imaging Using Self-Supervised Two-Step Deep Image Prior. IEEE Transactions On Radiation And Plasma Medical Sciences 2026, PP: 1-1. DOI: 10.1109/trpms.2026.3671590.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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• Dose reduction for synaptic density PET imaging in Parkinson’s disease

  Li A, Naganawa M, Honhar P, Fontaine K, Gravel P, Matuskey D, Carson R, Tang J. Dose reduction for synaptic density PET imaging in Parkinson’s disease. NeuroImage 2026, 331: 121853. PMID: 41833889, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121853.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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• Noninvasive Quantification of [18F]SynVesT-2 PET in Healthy Human Brains Using Simplified Reference Tissue Models

  Hernández-Martín N, Balayeva T, Naganawa M, Asch R, Huang Y, Carson R, Gallezot J, Cai Z. Noninvasive Quantification of [18F]SynVesT-2 PET in Healthy Human Brains Using Simplified Reference Tissue Models. Journal Of Nuclear Medicine 2026, 67: 796-802. PMID: 41679926, PMCID: PMC13138105, DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.125.271207.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

  This study investigates simplified models for measuring brain synaptic density using SV2A PET scans, showing a 40-minute scan can reliably replace invasive methods, improving clinical feasibility.

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• “Pseudo-reference-based Input Function Shape” (pRef-IFS): Towards a True image-derived input function for PET kinetic modeling

  Volpi T, Naganawa M, Carson R, Hillmer A. “Pseudo-reference-based Input Function Shape” (pRef-IFS): Towards a True image-derived input function for PET kinetic modeling. Journal Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Metabolism : Official Journal Of The International Society Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Metabolism 2026, 46: 1238-1252. PMID: 41543053, PMCID: PMC12811094, DOI: 10.1177/0271678x251411712.

  Peer-Reviewed Original Research

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