1. Mapping the living mouse brain neural architecture: strain-specific patterns of brain structural and functional connectivity
- Author
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Taufiq Nasseef, Dominik von Elverfeldt, Marco Reisert, Jürgen Hennig, Ipek Yalcin, Thomas Bienert, Brigitte L. Kieffer, Meltem Karatas, Laura-Adela Harsan, Vincent Noblet, Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives (INCI), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des sciences de l'ingénieur, de l'informatique et de l'imagerie (ICube), École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg (ENGEES)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Strasbourg (INSA Strasbourg), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Les Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg (HUS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Matériaux et Nanosciences Grand-Est (MNGE), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Réseau nanophotonique et optique, Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Neuropsychologie Cognitive et Physiopathologie de la Schizophrénie (NCPS), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Hôpital Civil de Strasbourg, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Strasbourg (INSA Strasbourg), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg (ENGEES)-Réseau nanophotonique et optique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Matériaux et nanosciences d'Alsace (FMNGE), and Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
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Histology ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Splenium ,Brain Structure and Function ,Biology ,Corpus callosum ,050105 experimental psychology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Mice ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neurochemical ,Reward ,Neural Pathways ,Connectome ,Animals ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Default mode network ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Basal forebrain ,Brain Mapping ,General Neuroscience ,05 social sciences ,Brain ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,[INFO.INFO-TI]Computer Science [cs]/Image Processing [eess.IV] ,Anatomy ,Nerve Net ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Diffusion MRI - Abstract
Mapping brain structural and functional connectivity (FC) became an essential approach in neuroscience as network properties can underlie behavioral phenotypes. In mouse models, revealing strain-related patterns of brain wiring is crucial, since these animals are used to answer questions related to neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders. C57BL/6 and BALB/cJ strains are two of the primary "genetic backgrounds" for modeling brain disease and testing therapeutic approaches. However, extensive literature describes basal differences in the behavioral, neuroanatomical and neurochemical profiles of the two strains, which raises questions on whether the observed effects are pathology specific or depend on the genetic background of each strain. Here, we performed a systematic comparative exploration of brain structure and function of C57BL/6 and BALB/cJ mice using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We combined deformation-based morphometry (DBM), diffusion MRI and high-resolution fiber mapping (hrFM) along with resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and demonstrated brain-wide differences in the morphology and "connectome" features of the two strains. Essential inter-strain differences were depicted regarding the size and the fiber density (FD) within frontal cortices, along cortico-striatal, thalamic and midbrain pathways as well as genu and splenium of corpus callosum. Structural dissimilarities were accompanied by specific FC patterns, emphasizing strain differences in frontal and basal forebrain functional networks as well as hubness characteristics. Rs-fMRI data further indicated differences of reward-aversion circuitry and default mode network (DMN) patterns. The inter-hemispherical FC showed flexibility and strain-specific adjustment of their patterns in agreement with the structural characteristics.
- Published
- 2021