MR Spectroscopy
We develop methods for non-invasively measuring the molecular signatures of the brain in health and pathology.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a noninvasive advanced technique that allows measuring metabolism in the brain or in other parts of the body including the spine, liver or hearth. It is utilized for the evaluation of physiology, chemistry and function of the tissue since it provides unique information on chemical composition of the tissue.
Our major goals of our research with MRS at FMRIB are divided into two, Clinical and Innovative Applications of MRS. Complementary to structural and functional MR imaging, we utilize MRS to assess the levels of metabolites in normal and diseased central nervous system. As for innovative applications of MRS, we utilize MRS to asses the levels of metabolites in response to physiological interventions such as monocular deprivation, transcranial direct current stimulation and psychoactive drugs.
Besides applications of MRS, we are working on technological and methodological improvements to the technique of MRS. These include achieving excellent spectral quality (high spectral resolution, SNR, excellent localization performance, efficient water suppression and a distortionless baseline) by dealing with the challenges and benefiting from the opportunities of high and ultra high magnetic fields.
View our publications.
This research is conducted as part of the Physics Group at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging.