MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING OF ETHANOL IN THE HUMAN BRAIN - A FEASIBILITY STUDY

The in vivo distribution of ethanol in normal human brain following th e consumption of a moderate amount of alcohol was measured using magne tic resonance spectroscopic imaging. Three subjects were studied, and the spatial distribution of brain ethanol, 60-min postingestion and me asured at a spatial resolution of 1.5 cm, was found to be highly nonun iform with the relative ethanol signal in cerebral spinal fluid, gray matter, and white matter determined to be 1.00, 0.72, and 0.37, respec tively. These spectroscopic imaging results indicate that whereas in v ivo magnetic resonance studies of ethanol are feasible, quantitative s tudies of alcohol need to account carefully for the various tissue typ es within the observed volume.