Magnetization Transfer Ratio Differences in the Adult Mouse Brain Due to Cranial Irradiation in Infancy

A. Elizabeth de Guzman¹, ², Lisa M. Gazdzinski¹, Jonathan Bishop¹, Brian J. Nieman¹, ²

The development of neurocognitive late effects due to therapeutic cranial irradiation in children has been linked to a reduction in white matter volume many years following treatment. This study used magnetization transfer imaging as a method to detect differences in white matter pathology of adult mice that were treated with cranial irradiation during infancy. Voxel based analysis was able to identify differences in both subparts and entire volumes of major white matter structures in the brain. Further application of this tool for the investigation of the cellular mechanisms behind neurocognitive late effects will quantify WM differences between different neuroprotected strains of mice.