AGE-RELATED BRAIN CHANGES IN RHESUS-MONKEYS - A MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY

BRAIN metabolites were measured by proton magnetic resonance spectrosc opy in five young (4-10 years of age) and six old (24-30 years of age) adult rhesus monkeys. The two age groups had similar levels of N-acet ylaspartate and of choline relative to creatine, but the ratio of myo- inositol/creatine was higher in each old monkey than in any of the you ng animals. There was no significant relationship between the metaboli te ratios and cognitive performance. The findings indicate that a cons istent pattern of non-invasively detectable biochemical changes occurs in the brain with ageing. Whether these changes have functional signi ficance in age-related pathologies, or are simply markers of brain age ing will be the subject of future studies. (C) 1998 Rapid Science Ltd.