Regional Neurochemical Profiles in the Non-Human Primate Model by 1H MRS at 7T

Uzay Emrah Emir¹, Noam Harel¹, Essa Yacoub¹, Gregor Adriany¹, Gulin Oz¹

Non-human primate models of neurological diseases serve as a critical link between basic research and human clinical applications. Therefore, reliably measuring neurochemical levels, which may serve as disease biomarkers and enhance understanding of mechanisms of neurological diseases, in the monkey brain is of great interest. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of acquiring and quantifying single voxel semi-LASER spectra by utilizing a custom build monkey coil at 7T. Representative spectra and neurochemical profiles are reported from brain regions that are of interest for various neurological disorders, namely the posterior cingulate, putamen and cerebellum. Neurochemical similarities between humans and monkeys were observed