Constructing the human brain metabolic connectome with MR spectroscopic imaging reveals cerebral biochemical organization.

ABSTRACT: Network science has mapped brain structural and functional organization, yet capturing metabolic contrast remains a major gap in connectomics. Using fast, high-resolution 3D whole-brain proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (¹H-MRSI), we derive a within-subject metabolic connectome in 51 healthy subjects, defined as pairwise correlations among five metabolites (tCr, tNAA, Glx, Ins, Cho) across gray-matter parcels. Results show stability, consistency and replicability, including validation in an independent sample (N = 13) scanned at a different site. A dimensionality reduction analysis shows that the leading metabolic similarity mode forms a continuous caudal-to-rostral gradient across gray-matter regions. We show that this progression is reflective of a balance betwee

SUBMITTER: Lucchetti F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12727723 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature