Quantitative Magnetic Susceptibility Mapping of the Developing Mouse Brain

Ioannis Argyridis¹, Wei Li¹, Chunlei Liu¹, ²

Myelination of nerve axons is essential for brain function and occurs during early post natal days. We extract data from quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and diffusion-weighted imaging of three central regions in newborn healthy mouse brains at four different stages. Values of fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient and magnetic susceptibility are analyzed to track myelin change in vivo. Also a new tool, susceptiblity anisotropy provides insight to the magnetic properties of unmyelinated fibers. Such information has become available recently with the improvement of QSM and can be crucial in the better monitoring, understanding and treatment of neurological demylineation diseases.