By coupling selective band excitation of metabolites with high magnetic fields, relaxation-enhanced 1H MR spectroscopy can be performed in living specimen and patients to achieve high sensitivity over very short acquisition times for the examination of cellular dysfunction. This sensitivity can be used to evaluate otherwise inaccessible metabolites or regions of the proton spectral regime and can be used to probe cell-specific environments, such as neurons versus astrocytes, that may undergo differential changes during dysregulation.