A. Elizabeth de Guzman1,
2, Michael D. Wong1, 2, Jacqueline A. Gleave1,
Brian J. Nieman1, 2
1Mouse
Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Department
of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Despite the common use of chemically fixed tissue for MRI morphometric analysis of the rodent brain, limited details are available describing how the fixation protocol may alter brain morphology. In this study, fixed mouse brain samples were imaged repeatedly during fixation in order to determine the effect that changes in fixation time has on structure volume. Each structure in the brain changed in volume at different rates with fixation time, where structures near the ventricular system decreased in size while the ventricles expanded. Caution should be taken to maintain consistency with fixation protocols, as within study changes may masquerade as phenotypic differences.