PROTON SPECTROSCOPY OF HUMAN BRAIN - EFFECTS OF AGE AND SEX

1. The present study was done to assess the brain metabolites measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in normal individuals . 2. Proton spectroscopy STEAM voxel technique with chemical shift ima ging was used to provide localized metabolic information from the brai ns of 34 normal volunteers (15 males) between the ages of 21 and 75 ye ars. 3. Choline, Creatine and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) was lower in wh ite matter than gray matter. Choline/NAA and choline/creatine ratios w ere also lower in white matter. The choline, creatine and NAA were low er in older subjects in the voxel representing cortical and subcortica l gray matter. There were no differences between males and females. 4. This preliminary study suggests that age matching is essential for co mparative studies of disease states using proton MRS.