Marco Palombo1,2, Clémence Ligneul1,2, Chloé Najac1,2, Juliette Le Douce1,2, Julien Flament1,2, Carole Escartin1,2, Philippe Hantraye1,2, Emmanuel Brouillet1,2, Gilles Bonvento1,2, and Julien Valette1,2
A new diffusion-weighted MRS paradigm, combining advanced modeling with
metabolites diffusion measurements at long diffusion times, is applied in the
mouse and macaque brain in vivo. Resulting synthetic astrocytes and neurons
(derived from cell-specific metabolite diffusion) can be compared with
histological data. Very good agreement between Sholl analysis on real and
synthetic astrocytes validates our approach and assumptions. We also measure
increased size and complexity of synthetic astrocytes in primate compared to
mouse, while dendritic organization appears better conserved throughout
species. Although still in its infancy, our strategy opens new perspectives for
the non-invasive evaluation of brain cell morphology.