An MRI-based atlas and database of the developing mouse brain.
The advent of mammalian gene engineering and genetically modified mouse models has led to renewed interest in developing resources for referencing and quantitative analysis of mouse brain anatomy. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for quantitative characterization of anatomical phenotypes in the developing mouse brain. As an anatomical reference for neuroscience research using mouse models, this paper presents DTI based atlases of ex vivo C57BL/6 mouse brains at several developmental stages. The atlas complements existing histology and MRI-based atlases by providing users access to three-dimensional, high-resolution images of the developing mouse brain, with distinct tissue contrasts and segmentations of major gray matter and white matter structures. The usefulness of the atlas and database was demonstrated by quantitative measurements of the development of major gray matter and white matter structures. Population average images of the mouse brain at several postnatal stages were created using large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping and their anatomical variations were quantitatively characterized. The atlas and database enhance our ability to examine the neuroanatomy in normal or genetically engineered mouse strains and mouse models of neurological diseases.
Chuang
Nelson
N
Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Mori
Susumu
S
Yamamoto
Akira
A
Jiang
Hangyi
H
Ye
Xin
X
Xu
Xin
X
Richards
Linda J
LJ
Nathans
Jeremy
J
Miller
Michael I
MI
Toga
Arthur W
AW
Sidman
Richard L
RL
Zhang
Jiangyang
J
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D003391:Cranial Nerves / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure