Jason Philipp Lerch1, Jeffrey B. Carroll2, Matthijs van Eede1, Michael R. Hayden2, R. Mark Henkelman1
1Mouse Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
We investigated the YAC128 mouse model of Huntington's Disease at 8 and 12 months of age using high-resolution MRI and found progressive atrophy in the striatum. The sensorimotor cortex, on the other hand, was thicker in YAC128 mice at 8 months of age but thinner than wild-type controls at 12 months, suggesting a potential compensatory mechanism in early stages of the disease.