TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual differences in GABA content are reliable but are not uniform across the human cortex
AU - Greenhouse, Ian
AU - Noah, Sean
AU - Maddock, Richard J
AU - Ivry, Richard B.
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides a powerful tool to measure gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the principle inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human brain. We asked whether individual differences in MRS estimates of GABA are uniform across the cortex or vary between regions. In two sessions, resting GABA concentrations in the lateral prefrontal, sensorimotor, dorsal premotor, and occipital cortices were measured in twenty-eight healthy individuals. GABA estimates within each region were stable across weeks, with low coefficients of variation. Despite this stability, the GABA estimates were not correlated between regions. In contrast, the percentage of brain tissue per volume, a control measure, was correlated between the three anterior regions. These results provide an interesting dissociation between an anatomical measure of individual differences and a neurochemical measure. The different patterns of anatomy and GABA concentrations have implications for understanding regional variation in the molecular topography of the brain in health and disease.
AB - 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides a powerful tool to measure gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the principle inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human brain. We asked whether individual differences in MRS estimates of GABA are uniform across the cortex or vary between regions. In two sessions, resting GABA concentrations in the lateral prefrontal, sensorimotor, dorsal premotor, and occipital cortices were measured in twenty-eight healthy individuals. GABA estimates within each region were stable across weeks, with low coefficients of variation. Despite this stability, the GABA estimates were not correlated between regions. In contrast, the percentage of brain tissue per volume, a control measure, was correlated between the three anterior regions. These results provide an interesting dissociation between an anatomical measure of individual differences and a neurochemical measure. The different patterns of anatomy and GABA concentrations have implications for understanding regional variation in the molecular topography of the brain in health and disease.
KW - Cortex
KW - GABA
KW - Individual differences
KW - Inhibition
KW - Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
KW - Molecular topography
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.06.007
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.06.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 27288552
AN - SCOPUS:84974827168
VL - 139
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
SN - 1053-8119
ER -