Cortical N-acetylaspartate concentrations are impacted in chronic stroke but do not relate to motor impairment: A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Abstract

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures cerebral metabolite concentrations, which can inform our understanding of the neurobiological processes associated with stroke recovery. Here, we investigated whether metabolite concentrations in primary motor and somatosensory cortices (sensorimotor cortex) are impacted by stroke and relate to upper-extremity motor impairment in 45 individuals with chronic stroke. Cerebral metabolite estimates were adjusted for cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue composition in the MRS voxel. Upper-extremity motor impairment was indexed with the Fugl-Meyer (FM) scale. N-acetylaspartate (NAA) concentration was reduced bilaterally in stroke participants with rig..