Markus Breu1,
2, Dominik Maria Reisinger1, 2, Dan Wu3,
Yajing Zhang3, Ali Fatemi1, 2, Jiangyang
Zhang4
1Hugo
W. Moser Research Institute, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United
States; 2Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 3Department of
Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
Baltimore, MD, United States; 4Radiology, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
To investigate the relationships between diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) based markers and micro-structural changes in the developing brain, in vivo high resolution DTI was used to characterize neonatal rat brain development from postnatal day 2 (P2) to P10. The DTI contrasts allowed delineation and tracking of major structures in the neonatal rat brain. The results showed modest increases in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and small increases in fractional anisotropy (FA) in major white matter structures at P2-P10. During the same period, rapid decline in FA and complex changes in ADC were found in the neonatal cortex.