title: Microembolism induces anhedonia but no detectable changes in white matter integrity in aged rats.
abstract: Microvascular disease leads to alterations of cerebral vasculature including the formation of microembolic (ME) strokes. Though ME are associated with changes in mood and the severity and progression of cognitive decline, the effect of ME strokes on cerebral microstructure and its relationship to behavioral endpoints is unknown. Here, we used adult and aged male rats to test the hypotheses that ME lesions result in subtle changes to white and gray matter integrity as detected by high-throughput diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and that these structural disruptions correspond to behavioral deficits. Two weeks post-surgery, aged animals showed depressive-like behaviors in the sucrose consumption test in the absence of altered cerebral diffusivity as assessed by ex-vivo DTI. Furthermore, DTI indices did not correlate with the degree of behavioral disruption in aged animals or in a subset of animals with observed tissue cavitation and subtle DTI alterations. Together, data suggest that behavioral deficits are not the result of damage to brain regions or white matter tracts, rather the activity of other systems may underlie functional disruption and recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America; Department of Physiology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Nemeth
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gutman
authors.affiliation: Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University/Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America; LUMS, School of Science and Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Waqas
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Majeed
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shella D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Keilholz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America; Department of Physiology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gretchen N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Neigh
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D059445:Anhedonia; D000818:Animals; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D004617:Embolism / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D055806:Microvessels / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*