The effect of neurostimulation on the intracellular concentrations of proton-containing metabolites and macroergic phosphates in the brain cortex upon schizophrenia according to the data from 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abstract

The effect of neuroactivation on the concentrations of direct (phosphocreatine, PCr; adenosine triphosphate, ATP) and indirect (N-acetylaspartate, NAA) participants of energy metabolism and the intracellular pH values in the activated brain loci in health and upon early-stage schizophrenia is considered. Single-voxel ¹H and 2D ³¹P magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods were used. The neuroactivation areas were localized according to the data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The NAA level after a short stimulus in the premotor cortex in schizophrenic patients remained unchanged, while the health group showed a reversible decrease in this parameter even 12 s after stimulus presentation. The long video stimulation has no effect on the contents of PCr and ATP in the visual cortex upon schizophrenia, while the analogous action on the health brain causes a decrease in the PCr level with the ATP level being constant. In the absence of neurostimulation, all measured indices were identical in both schizophrenic patients and control group.