N-acetylaspartate levels of left frontal cortex are associated with verbal intelligence in women but not in men: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.
The left frontal cortex plays an important role in executive function and complex language processing inclusive of spoken language. The purpose of this work was to assess metabolite levels in the left and right prefrontal cortex and left anterior cingulum by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and relate results to verbal intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale revised) in a sample of college-educated healthy volunteers (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]: n=52, 23 females, and left anterior cingulum: n=62, 22 females; age range: 20-75 years). In women only, N-acetylaspartate in the DLPFC and in the left anterior cingulate cortex was positively correlated with vocabulary scores. Our data support the hypothesis of existing gender differences regarding the involvement of the left frontal cortex in verbal processing as reflected in different correlations of specific metabolites with verbal scores.
Pfleiderer
B
B
Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Strasse 33, 48129 Münster, Germany. pfleide@uni-muenster.de
Ohrmann
P
P
Suslow
T
T
Wolgast
M
M
Gerlach
A L
AL
Heindel
W
W
Michael
N
N
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*
D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate