Visualization of the topographical structure of the anesthetized mouse brain by MR microimaging

A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer equipped with a magnet producing a high and extremely uniform magnetic field (7.05 T) was combined with a strong field gradient coil (3.5 mT/cm) and applied to MR microimaging of the mouse brain to visualize its topographical structure. Since the proton-density-weighted condition (long repetition time (TR) and short echo time (TE); TR/TE = 3,000 ms/10.4 ms) was found to be the most suitable for imaging the mouse brain, mid-sagittal and coronal sections in 1-mm- or 0.3-mm-thick slices were imaged according to the multislice spin echo sequence with 2 or 8 acquisitions, a 2 kHz pulse width and a 256 x 256 data matrix. As expected, the resolution of MR microimaging was comparable to that of the histological sections. The white matter especially, could be distinguished from the gray matter in some regions of the brain. Coronal sections of the brain also showed that the hippocampal CA1-CA3 regions were distinguishable from the other regions. The results suggested that the present MR microimaging technique might be a useful tool for the study of topological anatomy and submicroscopic research using brains of small laboratory animals.