Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in substance use disorder: recent advances and future clinical applications

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) now is widely used in clinical researches for the measurement of compounds or metabolites in vivo, especially in neuropsychiatric diseases/disorders. Recently, there are many studies on substance use disorders utilizing 1H-MRS to explore the mechanism of brain metabolites. It is found that metabolites levels in substance users are changed compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, these changes also relate to behavior indices, and provide evidence for the impact on neuronal health, energy metabolism and membrane turnover. However, 1H-MRS is not yet a mature detection technology, and it still has many challenges in the application of the neuropsychiatric disorder area. The settings of test parameters and the inconsistency of results across different studies still plague the clinicians and technicians. This article is intended to provide an overview of basic theory and methods of 1H-MRS, and the literature reporting metabolites alterations in substance dependence, as well as the related neuropsychological performance. At last, we will discuss the forthcoming challenges and possible future direction in this area.