In vivo high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging of the mouse brain

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the laboratory mouse brain provides important macroscopic information for anatomical characterization of mouse models in basic research. Currently, in vivo DTI of the mouse brain is often limited by the available resolution. In this study, we demonstrate in vivo high-resolution DTI of the mouse brain using a cryogenic probe and a modified diffusion-weighted gradient and spin echo (GRASE) imaging sequence at 11.7 Tesla. Three-dimensional (3D) DTI of the entire mouse brain at 0.125 mm isotropic resolution could be obtained in approximately two hours. The high spatial resolution, which was previously only available with ex vivo imaging, enabled non-invasive examination of small structures in the adult and neonatal mouse brains. Based on data acquired from eight adult mice, a group-averaged DTI atlas of the in vivo adult mouse brain with 60 structure segmentations was developed. Comparisons between in vivo and ex vivo mouse brain DTI data showed significant differences in brain morphology and tissue contrasts, which indicate the importance of the in vivo DTI based mouse brain atlas.

A comparative analysis of mouse and human medial geniculate nucleus connectivity: A DTI and anterograde tracing study

“…anterograde vs. retrograde). Therefore, it is not possible to further elucidate which of the MGN or surrounding nuclei are contributing to the different paths of connectivity with our current data sets, however, with a recent surge in small animal imaging there are sequences with increasing resolution that may address these questions in the future(Wu et al, 2013). Additionally, the collection of higher resolution data using conventional imaging requires prohibitively long scan times, though advances are growing in the field to ameliorate some of these concerns(Muller et al, 2012).…”

In vivo DTI tractography of the rat brain: an atlas of the main tracts in Paxinos space with histological comparison

“…However, scan duration constraints of in vivo DTI animal studies must be taken into account. Even though recent works achieved high-resolution DTI with isotropic voxels by applying advanced acquisition strategies [43], this is not the standard practice for preclinical in vivo tractography studies [37,[44][45][46]. We therefore chose to use the acquisition protocol explained in the methods: the visual inspection of the results showed satisfactory correspondence with the known rat brain anatomy.…”

Effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on early postnatal rodent brain structure and diffusion properties

“…Non-survival imaging methods currently dominate the field; however, the advancements in live imaging methods shown here and elsewhere (Cai et al, 2011; Harsan et al, 2013; Wu et al, 2013) allow for examination of development across the lifespan of a single subject. This incredibly powerful approach will improve our understanding of psychiatric diseases, many of which are developmental in nature (Bale et al, 2010).…”