Background: Dopamine transmission in the striatum and especially the ventral striatum (VST), a structure which includes the nucleus 

accumbens, ventral caudate, and ventral putamen, plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of psychotic states and the reinforcing effects of virtually all drugs of abuse. Objective/Hypotheses: The sensitivity of the measurement of DA transmission using raclopride as the surrogate marker may be affected by the type of analysis of raclopride binding potential (pB) chosen. Here, we compare striatal pB data obtained using three routine analyses of raclopride data. Methods: Dynamic emission recordings were obtained for 60 minutes after i.v. [11C] raclopride (190-366 MBq) using the ECAT HR tomography for 14 subjects during baseline (no decision making, no possibility to win money). Spatial normalization to a stereotactic atlas was performed using a combination of linear and nonlinear registrations. Regions were extracted using model-based segmentation. Maps of pB were calculated by the Lammertsma Simplified Reference Tissue Method, the Logan method with the slope calculated between 20 and 60 min. post injection and the ERLiBiRD method, using the cerebellum as reference for all three methods. Mean pB were calculated for left and right putamen, caudate and VST. Correlations between the left and right pB were examined for each striatal region. The results of the three methods were also compared. Results: For all three methods, there was a highly significant correlation between the left and right caudate and putamen (p<0.001). There was a significant but lower correlation between the left and right VST (0.01< 0.001), because of a higher standard error in the pB. Conclusions: There were no significant differences among the three methods. The ERLiBiRD method appears to be more robust when the variance in the results is large, including regions with low pB.