Individual behavioral trajectories shape whole-brain connectivity in mice

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Biology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• It is widely assumed that an individual's actions shape their brain structure and connectivity, influencing their identity.
• Understanding this relationship in a controlled setting is crucial for dissecting the interplay between genes, environment, and brain development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how behavioral activity trajectories influence neuroanatomy and structural covariance in a controlled environment.
• To determine if environmental enrichment and varying activity levels lead to distinct brain connectivity patterns.

Main Methods:

• Ex vivo structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) was used to analyze brain structure.
• Continuous behavioral activity tracking of mice over 3 months in an enriched environment.
• Network-based statistics were employed to identify differences in structural covariance networks.

Main Results:

• Environmental enrichment was confirmed to increase mouse hippocampal volumes.
• Significant differences in brain structural covariance were found between mice with consistently high activity and those showing habituating activity.
• Distinct subnetworks of structural covariance were identified, correlating with differing behavioral trajectories.

Conclusions:

• Individual behavioral trajectories within an enriched environment are associated with specific patterns of brain structural covariance.
• This study provides evidence for experience-dependent plasticity in brain connectivity, linking behavior to neuroanatomy.