SynthesisJournal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association
The Utility of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Understanding Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review of the Literature.
Synthesis in Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurometabolite Alterations Associated With Cannabis Use: A Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Meta-Analysis.Human brain mapping · 2025Pooled it
- Spectroscopic meta-analyses reveal novel metabolite profiles across methamphetamine and cocaine substance use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Pooled it
- Brain metabolite alterations related to alcohol use: a meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of N-acetylcysteine and motivational enhancement therapy for nicotine addiction: A randomized clinical trial.Narra J · 2025Trial
- Short-term nicotine deprivation alters dorsal anterior cingulate glutamate concentration and concomitant cingulate-cortical functional connectivity.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Fronto-striatal neurometabolite signatures of impulsivity in early abstinence from methamphetamine.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Article
- Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Addiction.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Multi-modal neuroimaging reveals differences in alcohol-cue reactivity but not neurometabolite concentrations in adolescents who drink alcohol.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Neuroimaging and the Investigation of Drug-Drug Interactions Involving Psychedelics.Neuroscience insights · 2024Article
- Impact of cannabis use on brain metabolism usingNeuroradiology · 2023Article
- Article
- MR Spectroscopy of the Insula: Within- and between-Session Reproducibility of MEGA-PRESS Measurements of GABA+ and Other Metabolites.Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies of substance use disorders: Current landscape and potential future directions.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2021Review
- Reciprocal Influences of HIV and Cannabinoids on the Brain and Cognitive Function.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2020Review
- Motion correction in magnetic resonance spectroscopy.Magnetic resonance in medicine · 2020Review
- Magnesium, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Zinc, and Chromium Levels in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Anterior Cingulate Cortex Glutamate Levels Are Related to Response to Initial Antipsychotic Treatment in Drug-Naive First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Assessing Brain Metabolism With 7-T Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Patients With First-Episode Psychosis.JAMA psychiatry · 2019Article
- Lower Choline Rate in the Left Prefrontal Cortex Is Associated With Higher Amount of Alcohol Use in Alcohol Use Disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Article
- Brain metabolite levels in recently sober individuals with alcohol use disorder: Relation to drinking variables and relapse.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The aim of this article is to present a systematic review of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies of substance use disorders. As a noninvasive and nonionizing imaging technique, MRS is being widely used in substance abuse research to evaluate the effects substances of abuse have on brain chemistry. Nearly 40 peer-reviewed research articles that focused on the utility of MRS in alcohol, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, cocaine, opiates, opioids, marijuana, and nicotine use disorders were reviewed. Findings indicate inconsistencies with respect to alterations in brain chemistry within each substance of abuse, and the most consistent finding across substances was decreased N-acetylaspartate and choline levels with chronic alcohol, methamphetamine, and nicotine use. Variation in the brain regions studied, imaging technique, as well as small sample sizes might explain the discrepancies in findings within each substance. Future well-designed MRS studies offer promise in examining novel treatment approaches in substance use disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.