Table 1.

Summary of main metabolic modifications in aging and neurodegenerative disorders measured by MRS in affected brain areas of patients and/or animal models.

Metabolite	Aging	AD	PD	HD
NAA		↓	↓	↓
myo-Inositol	↑	↑		↑
Glutamate	↓	↓	↑	↑
Glutamine		↑	↑	↑
GABA	↓	↓
Choline-containing phospholipids	↑		↓	↑
Phosphorylethanolamine	↓
Taurine	↓			↑
Lactate		↑	↑	↑

NAA= N-acetylaspartate; GABA= γ-aminobutyrate; AD= Alzheimer’s disease; PD= Parkinson’s disease; HD= Huntington’s disease.

Direction of the arrow indicates either increase ( ↑) or decrease ( ↓) of metabolite concentration.