Researchers at the Duke Center for In Vivo Microscopy have developed a new MR imaging method that increases resolution 64 million times over traditional MR scanners, giving scientists access to greater insights into Alzheimer's and other diseases by better observing changes in brain cells.

Using a vertical bore 9.4T Agilent (Varian) MR, gradient coils 100 times stronger than traditional ones, and a high-performance computer equivalent to the power of nearly 800 laptops, the researchers conducted their research on the brain of a mouse.

Collaborating with the researchers at Duke were scientists from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh and Indiana University, who compiled their findings in a paper, “Merged Magnetic Resonance and Light Sheet Microscopy of the Whole Mouse Brain.”

They say that the record-breaking resolution enables them to visualize the wiring diagram of connections throughout the entire brain of a mouse, and could eventually allow them to study various drug interventions or dietary changes and the effects they have on cognitive awareness, as well as biological health, throughout aging and neurodegenerative disease processes.

"If we can give people even an extra year or two of cognitive awareness and health by looking at just modest interventions, the impact on the population and the cost of caring for aging patients would be enormous," lead author G. Allan Johnson, Charles E. Putman University Distinguished Professor of Radiology, Physics and Biomedical Engineering at Duke, told HCB News.

Once scanned, the mouse tissue was again imaged with light sheet microscopy, with both approaches allowing the researchers to label specific groups of cells across the brain, such as ones that produce dopamine and can be monitored with the new MR imaging solutions for signs of Parkinson’s disease.

They then mapped the light sheet pictures onto the original MR scans, creating more anatomically accurate images that provide vivid views of cells and circuits throughout the entire brain.

One set of scans showed how connectivity throughout the brain changed as the mice aged, as well as how specific regions, like the memory-involved subiculum, changed more than the rest of the brain. Another set showed rainbow-colored brain connections that indicated significant deterioration of neural networks in a mouse model for Alzheimer’s disease.

While technical limitations prevent the scale and resolution of this system from being transferred to human clinical trials, Johnson and his colleagues are already preparing to publish a paper on normal aging from their study, which will be followed by one on Alzheimer's disease.

They also are looking into funding for a third area of study on the use of dietary changes and drug interventions on these processes, hoping to examine these changes in a population of mice.

Additionally, they are looking with the CHDI Foundation at studying models of Huntington's disease, potentially by July, as well as other collaborators for autism; neurotoxicology, particularly in children; and neurodevelopment and how that trajectory can be altered.

The National Institutes of Health supported the research.

The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said that the new imaging method's resolution was 64 times higher than traditional MR scanners. It is actually 64 million times more. HCB News apologizes for the error.