Clark Lemke1,2, Charles Masaki1, Uzay Emir2, Beata Godlewska1, and Phil Cowen1
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2FMRIB, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
The glutamatergic system is believed to
play a significant role in depression pathology. While many magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (MRS) studies of depression have targeted the glutamatergic
system, they have all been performed at magnetic field
strengths of 4 T or lower – limiting their ability to differentiate between
glutamate and glutamine. This study presents the first investigation of the
glutamatergic system in depressed subjects at 7 T. Voxels were placed in the occipital
cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and putamen and metabolites were quantified
using LCModel. Results indicate a significant decrease in glutamate in the occipital
cortex and a significant increase of glutamine in the putamen.
