Postprocessing Method And Application In GABA Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

y-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human brain and play a key role in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders, MRS is the only medical imaging technology to measure GAB A non-invasively in vivo. In this paper, we present a retrospective motion correction postprocessing method and the relationship between the GAB A concentrations and the empathy.There are many possible approaches to measure GABA concentration. Subject motion during MRS investigations is one of main factors to limit the spectra quality and the diagnostic value of the spectra. It is necessary to properly identify the motion in MRS scan. We present a retrospective motion correction postprocessing method in the first part of this paper. A method based on residual water signal was introduced in the MEGA point-resolved spectroscopy (MEGA-PRESS) sequence. The head motion during each acquisition was detected by its residual water signal and motion-corrupted data were identified and excluded from the dataset prior to averaging. MEGA-PRESS spectra were directly analyzed by using LCModel program. Our study shows that the proposed method is an effective way to discard acquisitions corrupted by motion and improve the spectral quality. The method may be beneficial for clinical examinations.Empathy is a multidimensional construct and a fundamental human ability. The ability is critically important for understanding and feeling others’emotional states. Most previous studies addressing y-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic and empathy play key roles in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, role of the GABA system in different dimensions of empathy are less clear. Thirty-two right-handed healthy volunteers took part in the second part of the study. Using MRS, we determined GABA concentrations in the anterior insula (AI) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The subcomponents of empathy were evaluated by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). We analyzed the relationship between the GABA concentrations and the subcomponents scores of empathy. Pearson correlation analyses (two-tailed) showed that AI GABA was strikingly correlated to the empathy concern score (r= 0.584, p< 0.05) and the personal distress score (r= 0.538, p< 0.05) but not significantly associated with other empathy subscales. A positively correlation between left AI GABA and the emotional aspects of empathy was found. We found no significant correlation between ACC GABA and empathy subscores.