Abstract #1445

Single Voxel MR Spectroscopy Data Quality & Metabolite Signature of the Isolated Amygdala

Lisa Angelos¹, Brendon M. Nacewicz¹, Andrew L. Alexander^1,2, Richard J. Davidson^1,3

¹Waisman Brain Imaging Laboratory, University of Wisconsin -- Madison, Madison, WI, United States; ²Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin -- Madison, Madison, WI, United States; ³Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin -- Madison, Madison, WI, United States

We have developed a single-voxel amygdala spectroscopy protocol that maximizes voxel volume by adapting the prescription to each individuals anatomy, and minimizes contamination and artifacts from surrounding tissue, especially hippocampus, with outer volume saturation bands. Compared to an occipital cortex voxel with similar data quality, amygdala NAA was 34% lower and Cho was 2.6 times higher, while Cre concentrations were similar. Amygdala NAA/(Cre+Cho) was higher than results from the hippocampus literature, suggesting an amygdala partial volume contribution to metabolite gradients observed in CSI measurements of the hippocampus.