Abstract #0249

Dunham S, Knight-Scott J, Fuchs K, Manning C, Wylie S

In this study, we examined the validity of the assumption that total creatine (tCr = creatine + phosphocreatine) is a stable metabolite reference for the calculation of metabolite concentrations in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). 10 ms TE 1H MRS data were collected from 9 participants with MCI and 8 healthy elderly adults in the posterior cingulate gyrus at 1.5T. Creatine (tCr, p=0.002) and myo-inositol (mI, p=0.012) concentrations were elevated in the MCI participants relative to the healthy controls. Post hoc comparisons between psychometric indices of visual and verbal recall and the tCr and mI concentrations revealed significant negative correlations (p < 0.001). That is, increased tCr and mI concentrations were associated with reduced performance on memory measures. Multiple linear regression of mI and tCr on the scores for visual and verbal memory yielded correlation coefficients of 0.797 and 0.814, respectively, with a minimum power of 98% for each regression. There was no significant corre