Diffusion tensor spectroscopy (DTS) of human brain

The diffusion tensor of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine and phosphocreatine (tCr), and choline (Cho) was measured at 3T using a diffusion weighted STEAM H-1-MRS sequence in the healthy human brain in 6 distinct regions (4 white matter and 2 cortical gray matter). The Trace/3 apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of each metabolite was significantly greater in white matter than gray matter. The Trace/3 ADC values of tCr and Cho were found to be significantly greater than NAA in white matter, whereas all 3 metabolites had similar Trace/3 ADC in cortical gray matter. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values for all 3 metabolites were consistent with water FA values in the 4 white matter regions; however, metabolite FA values were found to be higher than expected in the cortical gray matter. The principal diffusion direction derived for NAA was in good agreement with expected anatomic tract directions in the white matter.