Gonen, Ofer M.;
Moffat, Bradford A.;
Kwan, Patrick;
O’Brien, Terence J.;
Desmond, Patricia M.;
Lui, Elaine
Resting-state functional connectivity and quantitation of glutamate and GABA of the PCC/precuneus by magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 7T in healthy individuals
You can manage bookmarks using lists, please log in to your user account for this.
Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Resting-state functional connectivity and quantitation of glutamate and GABA of the PCC/precuneus by magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 7T in healthy individuals
Contributor:
Gonen, Ofer M.;
Moffat, Bradford A.;
Kwan, Patrick;
O’Brien, Terence J.;
Desmond, Patricia M.;
Lui, Elaine
Description:
<jats:p>The default mode network (DMN) is the main large-scale network of the resting brain and the PCC/precuneus is a major hub of this network. Glutamate and GABA (γ-amino butyric acid) are the main excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the CNS, respectively. We studied glutamate and GABA concentrations in the PCC/precuneus via magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 7T in relation to age and correlated them with functional connectivity between this region and other DMN nodes in ten healthy right-handed volunteers ranging in age between 23–68 years. Mean functional connectivity of the PCC/precuneus to the other DMN nodes and the glutamate/GABA ratio significantly correlated with age (<jats:italic>r</jats:italic> = 0.802, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.005 and <jats:italic>r</jats:italic> = 0.793, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.006, respectively) but not with each other. Glutamate and GABA alone did not significantly correlate with age nor with functional connectivity within the DMN. The glutamate/GABA ratio and functional connectivity of the PCC/precuneus are, therefore, independent age-related biomarkers of the DMN and may be combined in a multimodal pipeline to study DMN alterations in various disease states.</jats:p>