Distinguishing vesicular from cytoplasmic glutamate in the brain with in vivo MRS

MR spectroscopy can non-invasively measure the tissue content of glutamate (a neurotransmitter) in the brain, and this is proving helpful in understanding mood disorders and schizophrenia. However, current methods cannot separately assess glutamate content in cytoplasm and in synaptic vesicles. In order to better understand mood disorders and schizophrenia, this project is developing a method for separately quantifying brain glutamate content within synaptic vesicles and cytoplasm.