Investigating the neurochemistry of the human visual system using magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Journal article : Review

Abstract:: Biochemical processes underpin the structure and function of the visual cortex, yet our understanding of the fundamental neurochemistry of the visual brain is incomplete. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is a non-invasive brain imaging tool that allows chemical quantification of living tissue by detecting minute differences in the resonant frequency of molecules. Application of MRS in the human brain in vivo has advanced our understanding of how the visual brain consumes energy to support neural function, how its neural substrates change as a result of disease or dysfunction, and how neural populations signal during perception and plasticity. The aim of this review is to provide an entry point to researchers interested in investigating the neurochemistry of the visual system using in vivo measurements. We provide a basic overview of MRS principles, and then discuss recent findings in four topics of vision science: (i) visual perception, plasticity in the (ii) healthy and (iii) dysfunctional visual system, and (iv) during visual stimulation. Taken together, evidence suggests that the neurochemistry of the visual system provides important novel insights into how we perceive the world.

Files:: Ip_and_Bridge_2021_Investigating_the_neurochemistryV.pdf

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Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: MSD
Sub department:: AV PHYSIOLOGY ANATOMY AND GENETICS; HM CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0003-3544-0711

Language:: English
Keywords:: glutamate

magnetic resonance spectroscopy

FFR

plasticity

GABA

perception

cortical inhibition

visual cortex

dysfunction
Subtype:: Review
Pubs id:: 1173904
Local pid:: pubs:1173904
Deposit date:: 2021-10-15
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_f36bb7f7d0614b1cba36cc50ca6e33b4

Copyright holder:: Ip and Bridge
Rights statement:: © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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