Localized 1H MR Spectroscopy in the Primary Visual Cortex (V1) of the Macaque Monkey

The primary visual cortex (V1) is one of the elementary targets, when visual function and cortical reorganization are investigated. Neurotransmitters and substances involved in the energy metabolism of the brain are thought to be key compounds for a deeper understanding of the underlying processes. Here, 1H MR spectroscopy from small volumes positioned exclusively within the macaque V1 in direct vicinity to the cranial bone is reported. Optimizations in combined passive and active shimming, outer volume suppression and RF pulse design allowed the full quantification of 10 metabolites including creatine and phosphocreatine from a very localized voxel of monkey cortex V1 (5x1.6x5 mm3, 40 ìL)