Abstract #1495

Diffusion Tensor Image Guided Histological Assessment of a Kainic Acid Rat Epilepsy Model Ex Vivo Utilizing Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Analysis

Alejandra Sierra¹, Kimmo Lehtimki², Teemu Laitinen¹, Jari Nissinen¹, Asla Pitknen^1,3, Olli Grhn¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, A.I. Virtanen Institute, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; ²Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, A.I. Virtanen Institute, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; ³Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

Epilepsy is a challenging disease for imaging due to heterogeneous, widespread and non-focal changes in the brain tissue. The present study diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis provides "anatomics" of the brain pathology during experimental epileptogenesis, revealing areas involved in the epileptogenic process in a kainic acid animal model. This technique has a great potential to serve as a robust screening method to guide tedious histological analysis aimed to reveal cellular alterations of neuronal pathways.