Loading…

Longitudinal MRI monitoring of brain damage in the neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion rat model of schizophrenia

Rat with excitotoxic neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions (NVHL rats) is considered as a heuristic neurodevelopmental model for studying schizophrenia. Extensive study of this model is limited by the lack of clear validity criteria of such lesions and because ascertaining of the lesions is realized...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hippocampus 2010-02, Vol.20 (2), p.264-278
Main Authors: Bertrand, Jean-Baptiste, Langlois, Jean-Baptiste, Bégou, Mélina, Volle, Julien, Brun, Philippe, d'Amato, Thierry, Saoud, Mohamed, Suaud-Chagny, Marie-Françoise
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Rat with excitotoxic neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions (NVHL rats) is considered as a heuristic neurodevelopmental model for studying schizophrenia. Extensive study of this model is limited by the lack of clear validity criteria of such lesions and because ascertaining of the lesions is realized postmortem with histological examination after completing experiments. Here, in a first experiment, by assessing the locomotor response to amphetamine in adult NVHL rats, we further specify that the lesions must be bilateral and confined to the ventral hippocampus to obtain the validated behavioral phenotype. We then show a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol suitable for the detection of brain structural changes in NVHL rats. The T2‐weighted images acquired in adult NVHL rats reveal the same structural changes as those appraised with histological protocol. Moreover, we demonstrate that the lesion status in adulthood can be accurately predicted from the T2‐weighted images acquired in the juvenile period. As technical advantages, our MRI protocol makes possible to select animals according to lesion criteria as soon as in the juvenile period before long‐lasting experiments and gives access in vivo to a quantitative parameter indicative of the lesion extent. Finally, we show that the lesion size increases only slightly between juvenile and adult periods. These latter results are discussed in the context of the specific postpubertal emergence of the behavioral deficits in NVHL rats. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:1050-9631
1098-1063
DOI:10.1002/hipo.20628