Construction of an MRI-Based Connectome for the Marmoset Brain: Methods and Initial Results

The common marmoset, a small New World primate, is an excellent translational animal model due to the similarity between its brain network and humans. However, marmoset’s brain networks are not fully explored because of lacking a large group of resting-state functional MRI (rfMRI) data, like human connectome project. To facilitate collecting rfMRI in awake marmosets across multiple marmoset MRI sites, an MRI protocol was developed and optimized for ultra-high filed small animal MRI. Preliminary results show high data quality and robust detection of brain networks such as default mode network. More data are being acquired and collaboration is desired for the success of marmoset connectome database.