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Mouse Brain MRI: Including In Vivo, Ex Vivo, and fcMRI for the Study of Microcephaly

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Microcephaly

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2583))

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Abstract

With its sensitivity to soft tissue, MRI is a powerful tool for the study of the neuroanatomical manifestations of a variety of conditions, such as microcephaly-related morbidities that are not easily visualized by other imaging techniques, such as CT. In addition to structural imaging, more recently, researchers have found changes in brain function in a wide range of neurological conditions—highlighting the utility of MRI for the study of microcephaly.

In this methods chapter, basic mouse preparation and the acquisition of data for in vivo anatomical MRI will be discussed. Additionally, we will provide our protocol for the perfusion and fixation of brain tissue with gadolinium contrast agent. Following that, the process of optimization of system parameters will be shown for anatomical imaging of in vivo and ex vivo brain tissue. Lastly, the chapter will detail a protocol for fcMRI along with a discussion of considerations specific to functional imaging.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Martin J. MacKinnon, Tzu-Wen W. Wang & Yen-Yu I. Shih

  2. Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Martin J. MacKinnon, Tzu-Wen W. Wang & Yen-Yu I. Shih

  3. Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Martin J. MacKinnon & Yen-Yu I. Shih

  4. Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Martin J. MacKinnon & Yen-Yu I. Shih

Authors
  1. Martin J. MacKinnon
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  2. Tzu-Wen W. Wang
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  3. Yen-Yu I. Shih
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yen-Yu I. Shih .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Center for Neuroscience Research, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Timothy Gershon

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MacKinnon, M.J., Wang, TW.W., Shih, YY.I. (2023). Mouse Brain MRI: Including In Vivo, Ex Vivo, and fcMRI for the Study of Microcephaly. In: Gershon, T. (eds) Microcephaly. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2583. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2752-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2752-5_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2751-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2752-5

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