Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of SD-OCT measurement of rat brain.

OCT has been demonstrated as an efficient imaging modality in various biomedical and clinical applications. However, there is a missing link with respect to the source of contrast between OCT and other modern imaging modalities, no quantitative comparison has been demonstrated between them, yet. We evaluated, to our knowledge, for the first time OCT measurement of rat brain with our previously proposed forward imaging method by both qualitatively and quantitatively correlating OCT with the corresponding T1-weighted and T2-weighted magnetic resonance images, fiber density map (FDM), and two types of histology staining (cresyl violet and acetylcholinesterase AchE), respectively.

A Wireless EEG Recording Method for Rat Use inside the Water Maze.

With the continued miniaturisation of portable embedded systems, wireless EEG recording techniques are becoming increasingly prevalent in animal behavioural research. However, in spite of their versatility and portability, they have seldom been used inside water-maze tasks designed for rats. As such, a novel 3D printed implant and waterproof connector is presented, which can facilitate wireless water-maze EEG recordings in freely-moving rats, using a commercial wireless recording system (W32; Multichannel Systems).

Correlation of (18)F-fluoroethyl tyrosine positron-emission tomography uptake values and histomorphological findings by stereotactic serial biopsy in newly diagnosed brain tumors using a refined software tool.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the standard neuroimaging method to diagnose neoplastic brain lesions, as well as to perform stereotactic biopsy surgical planning. MRI has the advantage of providing structural anatomical details with high sensitivity, though histological specificity is limited. Although combining MRI with other imaging modalities, such as positron-emission tomography (PET), has proven to increment specificity, exact correlation between PET threshold uptake ratios (URs) and histological diagnosis and grading has not yet been described.

The Double-H Maze: A Robust Behavioral Test for Learning and Memory in Rodents.

Spatial cognition research in rodents typically employs the use of maze tasks, whose attributes vary from one maze to the next. These tasks vary by their behavioral flexibility and required memory duration, the number of goals and pathways, and also the overall task complexity. A confounding feature in many of these tasks is the lack of control over the strategy employed by the rodents to reach the goal, e.

In vivo monitoring of glial scar proliferation on chronically implanted neural electrodes by fiber optical coherence tomography.

In neural prosthetics and stereotactic neurosurgery, intracortical electrodes are often utilized for delivering therapeutic electrical pulses, and recording neural electrophysiological signals. Unfortunately, neuroinflammation impairs the neuron-electrode-interface by developing a compact glial encapsulation around the implants in long term. At present, analyzing this immune reaction is only feasible with post-mortem histology; currently no means for specific in vivo monitoring exist and most applicable imaging modalities can not provide information in deep brain regions.

A simple implantation method for flexible, multisite microelectrodes into rat brains.

A long term functional and reliable coupling between neural tissue and implanted microelectrodes is the key issue in acquiring neural electrophysiological signals or therapeutically excite neural tissue. The currently often used rigid micro-electrodes are thought to cause a severe foreign body reaction resulting in a thick glial scar and consequently a poor tissue-electrode coupling in the chronic phase. We hypothesize, that this adverse effect might be remedied by probes compliant to the soft brain tissue, i.

Early deficits in declarative and procedural memory dependent behavioral function in a transgenic rat model of Huntington's disease.

In Huntington's disease (HD) cognitive deficits co-exist with motor impairments, both contributing to the overall disease symptomology. Despite short-term and working memory impairments, learning and other non-motoric behavioral deficits arising from the damage to frontostriatal loop being common in HD patients, most of the experimental work with transgenic animals focuses on motor symptoms. The transgenic rat model (tgHD) recapitulates many hallmark HD-like symptoms, such as huntingtin aggregates, cellular loss and dysfunction, and motor, and some cognitive deficits.

In vivo visualization of gold-loaded cells in mice using x-ray computed tomography.

Unlabelled: The ability to perform cell tracking using x-ray computed tomography combined with gold nanoparticles has been demonstrated recently on ex vivo samples using different malignant and nonmalignant cell lines. Here we proved the concept of the method for in vivo assessment in a small-animal model of malignant brain tumors. The limitations of the method due to radiation dose constraints were investigated using Monte Carlo simulations.

Jagged1 signals in the postnatal subventricular zone are required for neural stem cell self-renewal.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the postnatal mammalian brain self-renew and are a source of neurons and glia. To date, little is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating the maintenance and differentiation of these multipotent progenitors. We show that Jagged1 is required by mitotic cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and stimulates self-renewal of multipotent epidermal growth factor-dependent NSCs.