Abstract #4189

A DTI Investigation of Neuroanatomical Differences in a Mouse Model of Early Life Neglect

Daniel Coman^1,2, Alvaro Duque³, Elizabeth D. George⁴, Xenophon Papademetris^2,5, Fahmeed Hyder^2,5, Arthur A. Simen⁴

¹Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ²Quantitative Neuroscience with Magnetic Resonance (QNMR), Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ³Department of Neurobiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ⁴Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ⁵Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

Early life neglect and abuse is a common problem in the USA with little discrimination for race, gender or socio-economical status. Recently, a novel mouse model of early life neglect based on maternal separation with early weaning (MSEW) was developed. In the present work we used DTI to examine the consequences of MSEW with regard to neuroanatomical structure. MSEW animals showed decreased FA in several white matter fiber tracks including the cingulum, corpus callosum, anterior commissure and septofimbria, but also in gray matter regions including the cingulate gyrus, basolateral amygdala, thalamus, and middle and deeper cortical layers.