Towards a Tract-Based Atlas of Mouse Brain Maturation & Gender Differences

Madhura Ingalhalikar¹, Stathis Kanterakis¹, Drew Parker¹, Christos Davatzikos¹, Ragini Verma¹

In this study we lay the foundation of a tract-based atlas of mouse maturation. Fiber tracking was performed in the cortex and the corpus callosum (CC) on the spatially normalized DT images of the C57BL/6J mice at various ages. The tracts in the cortical regions revealed radially oriented fibers in young mice that reduced on maturation, reflecting the growth of randomly oriented dendritic trees. In young females the fiber density dropped faster than in males till adolescence after which they progressed similarly. In the CC, the fiber density increased with maturation characterizing perhaps more organized axonal pathways and myelination.