Chlo Najac1,
2, Francesca Branzoli3, Itamar Ronen4, Julien
Valette1, 2
1CEA-MIRCen,
Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; 2CEA-CNRS URA 2210,
Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; 3C. J. Gorter Center for High Field
MRI, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands; 4C. J.
Gorter Center for High Field MRI, Department of Radiology, Leiden University
Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Diffusion-weighted spectroscopy allows probing the intracellular environment. Here we investigate the diffusion of NAA, creatine and choline at long td (from 100 to 720 ms) in two voxels containing different proportions of white matter (WM) and grey matter (GM) in the Human brain. Metabolite apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) barely depends on td, neither in predominantly WM, nor predominantly GM voxels. The stability of metabolites ADC with td suggests that, in both tissues, observed metabolite diffusion is essentially free, as would occur parallel to long fibers. This study offers a unique insight into WM and GM cellular architecture.