Abstract #1941

Ultra-High Field MRS in Healthy Aging and Early Cognitive Impairment

Mary Charlotte Stephenson¹, Mirjam I. Schubert², Maryam Abaei², Antonio Napolitano², Rob G. Jones³, Peter G. Morris¹, Dorothee P. Auer²

¹SPMMRC, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom; ²Academic Radiology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom; ³School of Community Healthy Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Metabolic profiles in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) have been found to be altered due to healthy aging and in many neurodegenerative diseases. The purpose of this study was to use increased spectral resolution and signal, available at higher field, to measure changes in the PCC metabolic profile due to healthy aging and cognitive impairment. Atrophy corrected levels of N-acetyl aspartate, glutamate and aspartate were found to significantly decrease with healthy aging. Levels of phosphocreatine were greatly reduced in patients with cognitive impairment, supporting a crucial role for Creatine Kinase dysfunction in dementia.