Age Dependence of Brain Oxygen Metabolism Assessed by 3D Constrained Quantitative BOLD MRI

Motivation: Evidence suggests that impaired glucose and oxygen metabolism play a key role in Alzheimer's Disease progression, and a decrease in metabolism of almost 10% is also seen in cognitively healthy older adults. Goal(s): The goal of this study was to evaluate constrained quantitative BOLD (c-qBOLD) MRI as a noninvasive, radiation-free method for detecting age-related changes in cerebral oxygen metabolism. Approach: 12 healthy volunteers ranging in age from 24-80 were examined using the c-qBOLD protocol to assess global cerebral oxygenation differences. Results: Our results demonstrate the feasibility of c-qBOLD as a method for monitoring age related changes in cerebral oxygen metabolism. Impact: This study demonstrates the sensitivity of c-qBOLD MRI to variations in cerebral oxygen metabolism. It is the first to investigate this method as a radiation-free, noninvasive, and spatially resolved method for monitoring age related changes in metabolism.