Brain imaging developments based on in vivo MRS

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) known for its non-invasive and nondestructive nature, has been applied in biomedical and clinical research to assess the biochemical and metabolic information in a living brain. However, the applicability and detection sensitivity of in vivo MRS are, in general, limited by low concentrations of most cerebral metabolites of interest. The newly advanced high/ultrahigh MRI/MRS technology has substantially overcome this limitation and provided new and exciting opportunities for potential applications of in vivo MRS in brain research at high field. One particular interesting application is to measure and image the cerebral metabolic rates, ultimately, for investigating the neuroenergetics associated with brain function. Recently, significant progress has been made for developing in vivo MRS imaging (MRSI) methods for noninvasively measuring and imaging the cerebral metabolic rates of oxygen (CMRO₂) and ATP (CMR_ATP) noninvasively. These new methods have been successfully applied for investigating the neuroenergetics changes associated with brain activation.