Premium
Towards a theory of functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( fMRS ): A meta‐analysis and discussion of using MRS to measure changes in neurotransmitters in real time
Author(s) -
Mullins Paul G.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/sjop.12411
Subject(s) - glutamate receptor , neuroscience , functional magnetic resonance imaging , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , neurotransmitter , neurochemistry , functional near infrared spectroscopy , chemistry , cognition , cognitive psychology , central nervous system , biochemistry , neurology , receptor , prefrontal cortex
Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate neurochemistry and physiology in vivo. Recently researchers have started to use MRS to measure neurotransmitter changes related to neural activity, so called functional MRS ( fMRS ). Particular interest has been placed on measuring glutamate changes associated with neural function, but differences are reported in the size of changes seen. This review discusses fMRS , and includes meta‐analyses of the relative size of glutamate changes seen in fMRS , and the impact experimental design and stimulus paradigm may have. On average glutamate was found to increase by 6.97% (±1.739%) in response to neural activation. However, factors of experimental design may have a large impact on the size of these changes. For example an increase of 4.749% (±1.45%) is seen in block studies compared to an increase of 13.429% (±3.59) in studies using event related paradigms. The stimulus being investigated also seems to play a role with prolonged visual stimuli showing a small mean increase in glutamate of 2.318% (±1.227%) while at the other extreme, pain stimuli show a mean stimulation effect of 14.458% (±3.736%). These differences are discussed with regards to possible physiologic interpretations, as well experimental design implications.