LAUSR

The goals of this study were to measure the apparent transverse relaxation time constant, T2 , of scyllo-inositol (sIns) in young and older healthy adults' brains and investigate the effect of alcohol usage on sIns in young and older healthy adults' brains, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3 T. Twenty-nine young adults (21±1 years old) and twenty-four older adults (74±3 years old) participated in this study. MRS data was acquired from two brain regions (occipital cortex (OCC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)) at 3 T. T2 of sIns was measured using localization by adiabatic selective refocusing (LASER) sequence at various echo-times while sIns concentrations were measured using a short-echo-time stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) sequence. A trend towards lower T2 relaxation values of sIns in older adults was observed although not significant. sIns concentration was higher with age in both brain regions and was significantly higher in young when considering alcohol consumption of more than 2 drinks per week. This study shows that differences in sIns can be found in two distinct regions of the brain across two age groups, potentially reflecting normal aging. In addition, it is important to take into account alcohol consumption when reporting sIns level in the brain.