In the clinic, neurologists often encounter patients whose symptoms are not explained by an MRI exam. Such discordance between clinical and radiological findings is explained by the fact that a routine MRI does not reflect all aspects of brain health. For example, tissue that looks normal on MRI can have chemical imbalances that can be responsible for current symptoms or future disease. One way to image such biochemical or metabolic changes is with a technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The research of our laboratory focuses on the use of MRS in neurological disorders, particularly concussion/traumatic brain injury (TBI), multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The work is done through departmental, institutional, and international collaborations with physicians, physicists, and other scientists, and currently includes the following three areas of investigation funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

• MR Spectroscopy and PET imaging in pre-clinical Alzheimer’s Disease (NIH award R01AG080672). The goal of this research is to use MRS to improve the ability of current methods to predict cognitive decline. The project centers on using certain MRS markers as probes for the intracellular viscosity of neurons and astrocytes. The work is done in collaboration with NYU Langone Health’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
• Multiparametric MR Spectroscopy in multiple sclerosis (NIH award R21NS112853). In our research on MS, the goal is to study the metabolic changes occurring in recently diagnosed patients. A current focus is on detecting early neurodegeneration.
• Sodium MR Imaging and Proton MR Spectroscopy in Traumatic Brain Injury (NIH award R01NS097494). Metabolic, ionic, microstructural and other quantitative MR data is acquired to investigate the use of multimodal MRI and MRS to predict long-term TBI outcomes. A line of this research examines the ways that MRS can be used clinically in concussion.