Cognitive correlates of 1H MRS measures in the healthy elderly brain

Ageing is associated with cognitive decline, with some studies indicating that this decline can be mostly accounted for by slowing of information processing speed. Whilst it is likely that this is associated with age-related changes in fronto-subcortical neuronal circuits, such changes are not visible on routine neuroimaging. We examined the integrity of this brain region using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) and hypothesised that functional changes measured by 1H MRS would be associated with cognitive performance. Fifty-nine healthy elderly subjects (age 58-85 years) underwent single-voxel 1H MRS in frontal white matter and occipito-parietal gray matter, and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The results showed a significant correlation between frontal white matter NAA/H2O and a composite measure of neuropsychological performance representing speed of information processing, attentional function and visual memory, controlling for age and sex. This research highlights the importance of the relationship between regional brain changes and cognitive function in the ageing brain, and suggests that MRS may be a sensitive marker of subclinical change in cognition.