Mapping brain development : An ex vivo multi-contrast MRI study on the ferret

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Brain development during the first weeks after birth in ferrets is similar to the one in the last trimester pregnancy in humans. Studying the ferret brain could thus provide insights about brain development and the underlying processes. We used a multi-contrast MRI approach combining diffusion-weighted and quantitative MRI at 11.7T to investigate normal brain development in the ex vivo ferret brain. We were able to reconstruct fiber tracts even at a very early stage and assess their myelination level based on macromolecular fraction values. Combining diffusion-weighted with quantitative MRI is thus an interesting imaging approach to study normal brain development.