The whole-brain N-acetylaspartate correlates with education in normal adults.

Publication Type	Academic Article
Authors	Glodzik L, Wu W, Babb J, Achtnichts L, Amann M, Sollberger M, Monsch A, Gass A, Gonen O
Journal	Psychiatry Res
Volume	204
Issue	1
Pagination	49-54
Date Published	10/30/2012
ISSN	1872-7123
Keywords	Aspartic Acid, Brain
Abstract	N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is an index of neuronal integrity. We hypothesized that in healthy subjects its whole brain concentration (WBNAA) may be related to formal educational attainment, a common proxy for cognitive reserve. To test this hypothesis, 97 middle aged to elderly subjects (51-89 years old, 38% women) underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging and non-localizing proton spectroscopy. Their WBNAA was obtained by dividing their whole-head NAA amount by the brain volume. Intracranial volume and fractional brain volume, a metric of brain atrophy, were also determined. Each subject's educational attainment was the sum of his/her years of formal education. In the entire group higher education was associated with larger intracranial volume. The relationship between WBNAA and education was observed only in younger (51-70 years old) participants. In this group, education explained 21% of the variance in WBNAA. More WBNAA was related to more years of formal education in adults and younger elders. Prospective studies can determine whether this relationship reflects a true advantage from years of training versus innate characteristics predisposing a subject to higher achievements later in life. We propose that late-life WBNAA may be more affected by other factors acting at midlife and later.
DOI	10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.04.013
PubMed ID	23177924
PubMed Central ID	PMC3508436