Towards high sensitivity 13C MRS of Human Brain Glycogen at 7T

Largely neglected due to its low concentration, yet brain glycogen plays an active role in brain energy metabolism and may be involved in a variety of brain diseases. The application of 13C MRS along with 13C-glucose intravenous infusion is to date the forefront method for investigating brain glycogen metabolism in vivo. Notably, the C1-resonances of glycogen and glucose have been detected non-invasively in the conscious human brain by 13C MRS at 4T after 13C-glucose infusion labelled at the C1-carbon. In this study, we explore the potential of 13C MRS at 7T with broadband 1H-decoupling towards measuring glycogen and glucose C1-resonances.