Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in major depressive disorder

In this paper, we have collected and discussed the current literature on MRS/MRSI techniques used in cases of depression to help understand the pathophysiology of the disease. The literature search using National Institutes of Health’s PubMed database, Scopus, and Google Scholar, provided us with 71 peer-reviewed publications to look at the disease effects amongst adolescent children, adult as well as the elderly population. Metabolite changes in N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), glutamate (Glu), and Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) are quite consistent in some brain regions among comparable studies, with a few inconsistencies noted due to the different study designs.