Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and morphometry of the hippocampus in CFS

[A.B.]

Abstract

Seven patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) were matched with ten healthy control subjects of similar age. Hippocampal volume, obtained from magnetic resonance images using an unbiased method, showed no difference between the two groups, whereas proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed a significantly reduced concentration of N-acetylaspartate in the right hippocampus of CFS patients (p - 5 0.005).

What's the significance of this finding? According to Wikipedia, N-acetylaspartate is the second most concentrated molecule in the brain, and is synthesized in the mitochondria of neurons. Its functions are thought to include

1. A neuronal osmolyte that is involved in fluid balance in the brain
2. A source of acetate for lipid and myelin synthesis in oligodendrocytes, the glial cells that myelinate neuronal axons
3. A precursor for the synthesis of the important neuronal dipeptide N-Acetylaspartylglutamate
4. A contributor to energy production from the amino acid glutamate in neuronal mitochondria.

http://www.birpublications.org/doi/pdf/10.1259/bjr.73.875.11144799

 

[Antares in NYC]

The hippocampus is directly involved in the formation and consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation.

It would explain how the persistent memory issues.