Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) holds promise for understanding neurochemical mechanisms associated with human cognitive aging in vivo. Recent advances in magnetic field strength and methods provide the opportunity to examine neurometabolites with greater accuracy and detail. The current review summarizes recent literature on age-associated neurometabolite changes as measured by proton MRS, and the associations with cognition in non-clinical populations. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 179 studies were screened for review, of these, 42 were eligible. When a subset of studies were assessed based on voxel placement, magnetic field strength and sample size, N acetyl aspartate (NAA) concentration was consistently reduced with age predominantly in the frontal lobe and Myo-inositol (mI) concentration increased with age consistently in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). These findings are of particular interest as these NAA and mI changes mirror neurometabolite changes often seen in Alzheimer disease. The findings of this review provide further evidence of the potential for ¹H-MRS to track age-related neurometabolite changes.

磁共振波谱（MRS）为了解体内与人类认知衰老相关的神经化学机制提供了希望。磁场强度和方法的最新进展为检查神经代谢物提供了更高的准确性和细节。本篇综述总结了有关通过质子MRS测量的与年龄相关的神经代谢物变化的最新文献，以及与非临床人群的认知相关性。使用系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）指南，筛选了179项研究进行了审查，其中42项是合格的。当根据体素放置，磁场强度和样本量评估研究的一部分时，N乙酰天冬氨酸（NAA）浓度主要是在额叶和与年龄一致减小的Myo肌醇（MI）浓度与年龄一致在后扣带皮层（PCC）增加。这些发现特别令人感兴趣，因为这些NAA和mI的变化反映了在阿尔茨海默病中经常见到的神经代谢物的变化。这篇综述的发现为¹ H-MRS追踪年龄相关的神经代谢物变化的潜力提供了进一步的证据。