Jurgen Germann1, Jeffrey B. Carroll2,
Christine Laliberte1, R. M. Henkelman1, Michael R.
Hayden2, Jason P. Lerch1
1The Mouse Imaging Centre, The Hospital
for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Centre for Molecular
Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
We
examined brain-behavior correlations in mice using MRI and 4 behavioural
tests: Rotarod, Forced-Swim, Pre-pulse-Inhibition and Open Field test.
Secondly, we investigated how these relationships are altered in a
Huntingtons disease (HD) mouse model. Strong correlations were found in the
wild-type mice identifying functional networks related to motor function,
stress and anxiety, cortical gating and memory. The correlations are an
expression of learning induced structural changes and provide insight into
the study of brain networks controlling behavior; their absence in the HD
mice could provide some insight into disease processes as they interfere with
the changes normally induced by learning.