Abstract #3088

Imaging Neuronal Degeneration in the Mouse Hippocampus After Neonatal Hypoxia-Ischemia Using Oscillating Gradient Diffusion MRI

Manisha Aggarwal¹, Frances J. Northington², Susumu Mori¹, Jiangyang Zhang¹

¹Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; ²Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in neonatal mice is associated with significant injury to the hippocampus, with progressive neurodegeneration in the pyramidal and granule cell layers. In this study, oscillating gradient diffusion MRI (dMRI) was used to probe microstructural changes following HI in the neonatal mouse hippocampus. The results show that frequency-dependent Δ_fADC contrasts with this technique are uniquely sensitive to early neuronal degeneration in the hippocampus after HI injury, and can delineate the spatiotemporal pattern of HI-induced progressive neurodegeneration in the pyramidal and granule cell layers, which are difficult to discern using conventional pulsed gradient dMRI.