Voxel-based morphometry applied to an experimental mouse model of brain altered development

DELFINA BRAGGIO; JIMENA BARBEITO; PAULA GONZALEZ; IGNACIO LARRABIDE

Encuentro; LABMAN; 2017

Voxel-based morphometry applied to an experimental mouse model of brain altered developmentVoxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a technique for neuroimage analysis. The aim ofVBM is to detect morphological differences in brain anatomy at a global level, based on voxel-wise statistics. Although VBM has been widely applied for comparative purposes in human studies, its use in experimental designs based on animal models is scarce. In this study, we apply VBM to identify inter-group differences in an experimental mouse model of growth restriction induced by maternal undernutrition. Using histological techniques, previous works have reported alterations in brain morphology when there is a nutritional restriction during early development. Here we will assess the potential of VBM to detectlocalized changes across the brain. Three groups were formed based on the diets consumed by the dams: control (C), low-protein diet (LP) and low calorie-protein diet (LCP). Magnetic resonance images of the adult offspring were taken, and VBM methodology was applied on them to detect and localize the areas of gray matter with higher differences among groups.We present clusters of voxels where the difference between groups is significant. Differences detected in the comparisons show some areas where a decrease in gray matter concentration is present, for both restricted groups. More differences were detected in the comparison between C and LP. This decrease is mainly located in the cerebellum, olfactory bulbs and, with smaller extension, in the brain cortex. In the comparison between LCP and C groups less differences were detected, mainly located on the brain cortex and cerebellum.Results of this study are in line with histology cell counting performed within the same experimental groups. In this work we proved that VBM technique has a great potential detecting subtle differences related to specific factors which alter the development.