Asymmetry of brain development in adolescent rats studied by 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging

To study the developmental patterns of brain structure in adolescent rats based on the registration with the SIGMA template by 3.0T MRI. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats (180-220 g) were randomly divided into four groups. Rats in the four groups underwent 3.0 T MRI head scans at 7, 11, 15, and 19 weeks of age, respectively. The voxel-based morphological analysis of the rat brain was performed by coregistration with the SIGMA rat brain template. 3.0 T MRI can be used to study the anatomical structure of the rat brain by registration with the SIGMA template The gray matter volume of the bilateral hippocampus and bilateral entorhinal cortex increased significantly in the development of the rat from 7 to 19 weeks of age. In this period, the subtle structure of the rat brain is asymmetrically developed. The rat aged 7-19 weeks has asymmetrical gray matter volume development in the bilateral entorhinal cortex and hippocampus.