Alzheimer's disease (AD) is clinically characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive abilities followed by deterioration in language, visuospatial, executive and behavioral function until ultimately all higher order cognitive functions are affected. With increasing frequency, non-invasive neuroanatomical and neurochemical measures are being used to evaluate disease progression and response to treatment, tools that will become indispensable for the efficient development and testing of more effective therapeutic agents. The goals of this work include the development of 1H MRS as a sensitive biomarker to the progression of Alzheimer's Disease, and the effect of pharmacologic therapy. Our studies are focused on the hippocampus, one of the earliest parts of the brain affected by the disease.

The human hippocampus (outlined in yellow) is shown in a T1-weighted MRI image of the human brain at 4 Tesla. Metabolite levels are measured from spectra (shown on the right) from a region within the hippocampus (outlined by the green box). Changes in metabolite levels represented by the peaks on the graph may be an indicator of disease progression or effects of medication.