The aim of this chapter is to give a general overview of techmques employed in the process of ligand-receptor binding. The theoretical aspects of the ligand-
receptor interactions and mathematical aspects of binding are not detailed here.
These are consIdered m Chapter 9, and there are also very readable chapters in
refs. 1 and 2. The techniques referred to use radioligands in the study of the
central nervous system, but many are applIcable to work outside thIS fIeld, for
example, GABA binding in the periphery (3) as well as nonradioligands such
as fluorescent and enzyme-linked antibodies.
The first question to be asked is, "What do I want to measure?" This is a
function of the following questions. "What receptor?" "Where is the recep-
tor?" "What ligand?" "What sort of results am I interested m?" "Do I have the
time for techniques requiring exposure times of weeks, or do I need an answer
now?" Other queries regarding the amount of tissue available, and so forth, are
all components of the decisIOn of which technique to use.