Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and environmental toxicant exposure
1Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Occupational Health Program, Landmark Center, 401 Park Dr., P.O. Box 15697, Boston, MA 02215, USA. mweissko@hsph.harvard.edu
Abstract:
The study of neurological impacts of toxicants has emphasized neuropsychological tests as important outcome variables. Direct assessment of neural substrates of environmental impacts could offer many advantages. I discuss our use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in the neurological assessment of adult lead poisoning of monozygotic twins as an example. Cognitive testing showed frontal lobe dysfunction in both twins, and more dramatic hippocampal dysfunction in the twin with higher lead exposure (JG). MRS showed lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratios in JG. The findings illustrate the potential utility of MRS in assessing impacts of not only lead, but other toxicants as well.
More Related Videos
13:56The Use of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy as a Tool for the Measurement of Bi-hemispheric Transcranial Electric Stimulation Effects on Primary Motor Cortex Metabolism
Published on: November 19, 2014
09:01Metabolomic Analysis of Rat Brain by High Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Tissue Extracts
Published on: September 21, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR): Overview
NMR spectroscopy generates a spectrum where the characteristic absorption frequencies of the sample are...
Applications Of NMR In Biology
The...
Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
Proteomics
Proteomics is the study of proteomes' function. It involves the large-scale systematic study of the proteome to denote the protein complement expressed by a genome. Scientist Mark Wilkins coined the term proteomics...