Quantitative and Morphometric Measures in the Human Hippocampal Tail Using Ex Vivo Imaging Validated With Histology

The human hippocampal tail is the posterior-most portion of the hippocampus and has been implicated in brain disorders, such as depression, panic disorder, and epilepsy. The tail's clinical relevance and volumetric variability exhibit a need for improved characterization with high-resolution imaging and histology at baseline. MRI provides three-dimensional context without missing slices and histology validates with architecture; combining these methods provides an optimal approach. Twenty control brain hemispheres were evaluated, including 10 males and 10 females. We scanned the hemispheres using ex vivo MRI at 120 μm isotropic resolution. The tissue was then processed and histologically stained. We manually labeled the hippocampal tail in high-resolution MRI, using six distinct coronal levels of the tail as guideposts, validating histologically. The volume and length of the tails were calculated using 3D MRI reconstructions; the median tail volume (median ± interquartile range) of our sample set was 715.6 ± 227.5 mm³. These data contribute a validated hippocampal tail volume. We calculated and quantified the medial flexure of the tail and compared sex as a biological variable. Male tail samples exhibited significantly larger angles than female samples (Mann-Whitney U test, p = 0.01). Our findings enable precise hippocampal tail delineation and may facilitate future research on function and mental health disorders.