Post-mortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Degenerating and Reorganizing White Matter in Post-stroke Rodent Brain

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows noninvasive and non-destructive imaging of brain tissue. More specifically, the status of white matter fibers can be measured with diffusion-weighted MRI, enabling assessment of structural degeneration or remodeling of white matter tracts in diseased brain. Here, we describe the preparation of post-stroke rodent brain samples for post-mortem high-resolution 3D diffusion-weighted MR imaging, accompanied with guidelines for acquiring and processing the images.