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Brain Proton MRS is Correlated with Financial Abilities in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

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Abstract

Persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) demonstrate frank impairments in the performance of everyday functional abilities. However, the neuroanatomic and neuro-metabolic correlates of these functional deficits in mild AD are largely unknown. Using 3-Tesla proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the posterior cingulate gyrus in 14 patients with mild AD and 14 healthy adult controls, we sought to determine the brain metabolic correlates of financial impairments in mild AD. Both N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and choline-containing compounds (Cho) were found to be abnormal in mild AD. In AD patients, NAA showed a positive correlation with financial abilities, while Cho showed a possible negative correlation with financial abilities. These findings suggest that metabolic abnormalities of posterior cortical paralimbic regions may reflect the underlying neuropathological processes that are instrumental in the degradation of financial abilities in mild AD. Proton MRS could offer a means to track brain changes associated with functional change in mild AD.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; 1P50 AG16582-01: Harrell, PI), (1R01 AG021927-01: Marson, PI) and grants from Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    H. Randall Griffith, Katherine Belue, Sara Lanza, Lindy E. Harrell, John C. Brockington, David G. Clark & Daniel C. Marson

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    H. Randall Griffith & Ozioma C. Okonkwo

  3. Department of Medicine (Cardiology), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Jan A. den Hollander

  4. Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Lindy E. Harrell

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  1. H. Randall Griffith
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  2. Ozioma C. Okonkwo
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  3. Jan A. den Hollander
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  4. Katherine Belue
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  5. Sara Lanza
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  6. Lindy E. Harrell
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  8. David G. Clark
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  9. Daniel C. Marson
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Correspondence to H. Randall Griffith.

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Griffith, H.R., Okonkwo, O.C., den Hollander, J.A. et al. Brain Proton MRS is Correlated with Financial Abilities in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Brain Imaging and Behavior 1, 23–29 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-007-9002-3

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