MR imaging in the brain of the marmoset: How does it contribute to the understanding of diseases?
Webinar Overview
The Brain/MINDS project represents a decade-long initiative focused on elucidating the neural networks that underpin higher brain functions in the common marmoset, a New World primate of diminutive stature. This project seeks to provide novel perspectives on information processing within the brain and to enhance our understanding of human neurological diseases. Our objectives encompass three core areas: (i) comprehensive mapping of the marmoset brain, encompassing both structural and functional aspects; (ii) development of disease models through the use of genetically altered marmosets to simulate conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Rett syndrome; and (iii) extrapolation to human brain mapping and clinical research, with a particular focus on biomarkers indicative of disease.
MRI technology serves as a pivotal tool for delineating the normative patterns of development and aging within the brain, thereby facilitating data sharing and collaborative research. The marmoset model has proven particularly valuable in the study of aging. Our current research has cataloged the aging trajectory of the marmoset brain and has established a comprehensive open-access MRI database that spans a broad age spectrum (Hata et al. Sci Data, 2023). The Brain/MINDS Marmoset Brain MRI Dataset is a substantial repository containing structural MRI data from 455 marmosets aged between 1 and 10 years. Moreover, a subset of this cohort, consisting of 91 marmosets, is complemented by high-resolution ex vivo MRI datasets. We have also amassed diffusion MRI data from 126 living marmosets and 50 post-mortem specimens. Complementing these, resting-state fMRI data have been acquired from 50 subjects. Upon its launch, this database was recognized as the world's largest publicly accessible dataset of its kind, enriched further by the inclusion of multi-contrast MRI data.
Accessible via the Brain/MINDS Data Portal, our MRI database holds the potential to elucidate the influences of various biological and procedural variables, including age, gender, body size, and tissue fixation processes, on brain morphology and function. It is poised to significantly bolster and expedite neuroscience research on a global scale. In today's presentation, I will further explicate how this database underpins the phenotypic analysis of marmoset models of disease, shedding light on conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Rett syndrome.
On Demand Session
Speaker
Hideyuki Okano
Keio University
