1H MRS in Mild Cognitive Impairment: What Are We Measuring, & How Good Are We at It?

Ileana Hancu¹, Robert Gillen², John Cowan³, Earl Zimmerman³

A small study is presented, aimed at understanding the relationship between brain function, as illustrated by performance on neuro-psychological (NP) tests, and 1H MRS data acquired from the posterior cingulate gyrus of normal control (NC) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects. The CPRESS mI/NAA ratio was shown to be a strong correlate of verbal memory, visuo-construction performance and visual motor integration. The same CPRESS mI/NAA ratio was also shown to improve the capability to separate NCs from MCI subjects compared to NP tests alone.