Magnetization transfer MRI of mouse brain reveals areas of high neural density

Extending applications of magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the human central nervous system, this work quantitatively describes MTC of the murine brain. As a novel finding, complementing T₁- and T₂-weighted MRI, MTC allows for the distinction of densely packed gray matter from normal gray and white matter. Examples include the Purkinje cell layer and the granular cell layer in the mouse cerebellum as well as the delineation of the CA3 subfield of the hippocampus relative to surrounding hippocampal gray matter and white matter tracts such as the hippocampal fimbria. Using a kainate lesion model, the CA3 hyperintensities in MTC and T₁-weighted MRI are assigned to the densely packed somata of pyramidal cells.