Manoj Kumar1, Stephen Pickup1,
Ranjit Ittyerah1, Sungheon Kim2, Andrew H. Fairless3,
Ted Abel4, Edward S. Brodkin3, Harish Poptani1
1Radiology, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Radiology, New
York University, United States; 3Psychiatry, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 4Biology,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Behavioral tests and DTI studies were longitudinally performed on postnatal days [28 (prepubescence), 48 (post pubescence) and 68 (early adulthood)] in BALB/cJ mice. We observed significantly reduced FA in left caudate putamen and corpus callosum at day 30 as compared to 70 days. Sociability scores were lower at 30 days as compared to 50 and 70 days and showed significant correlation with DTI indices. The correlation of DTI with abnormal behavior suggests that DTI may be used as a surrogate marker in assessing behavioral abnormalities in mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia.