title: In vivo functional neurochemistry of human cortical cholinergic function during visuospatial attention.
abstract: Cortical acetylcholine is involved in key cognitive processes such as visuospatial attention. Dysfunction in the cholinergic system has been described in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Levels of brain acetylcholine can be pharmacologically manipulated, but it is not possible to directly measure it in vivo in humans. However, key parts of its biochemical cascade in neural tissue, such as choline, can be measured using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). There is evidence that levels of choline may be an indirect but proportional measure of acetylcholine availability in brain tissue. In this study, we measured relative choline levels in the parietal cortex using functional (event-related) MRS (fMRS) during performance of a visuospatial attention task, with a modelling approach verified using simulated data. We describe a task-driven interaction effect on choline concentration, specifically driven by contralateral attention shifts. Our results suggest that choline MRS has the potential to serve as a proxy of brain acetylcholine function in humans.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, and School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, and School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tiffany
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, and School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Somya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul Gerald
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, and School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4267-3436
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Christakou
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002794:Choline / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009448:Neurochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002794:Choline; D000109:Acetylcholine