Introduction. MRI is sensitive for detecting CNS abnormalities, but lacks some specificity for their pathological substrates. In contrast, magnetization transfer ratio MTR (MTR) analyses have been reported to show increased pathologic specificity for the characterization of brain tissue (1), e.g. for the differentiation of low-grade from high-grade gliomas and benign from malignant tumors. In this study, the efficacy of quantitative MT (qMT) imaging for characterization of benign and malignant brain tumors and metastases is analyzed with balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) (2). MT effects are described in terms of MTR, relaxation times (T1, T2), MT exchange rate (kf) and the macromolecular content (F).