Nature & Environment
Pig Brains may Help Provide Answers about Human Cognitive Development
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Mar 14, 2013 11:52 AM EDT
Remember the movie "Charlotte's Web?" Well, it just so turns out that a spider can't take all the credit for wits in this science experiment. Researchers believe that the developed model of a pig brain may be able to answer some important questions about human brain development.
"It is important to characterize the normal brain growth trajectory from the neonatal period to sexual maturity," said scientist Rod Johnson.
In cooperation with the Beckman Institute, they performed MRI scans on the brains of 16 piglets, starting at the age of 2 weeks, then at 4 weeks, and then at 4-week intervals up to 24 weeks.
"We have world-class people at the Beckman Institute who are pushing and developing the next generation of neuroimaging technology, so we're able to connect with them and take advantage of their expertise," said Johnson.
Matt Conrad, a student in Johnson's lab, used three-dimensional visualization software on over 200 images to manually segment each region on three planes. The software put the information together into a three-dimensional image of the pig brain. This is used to determine the volume of the different structures.
When the piglets were at Beckman for their imaging sessions, Dilger performed other tests, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which shows how neural tracks develop, allowing the exploration of brain complexity and of how neurons form. It was also possible to measure neurochemicals, including creatine and acetylcholine, in the brain, which provides a unique insight into brain metabolism.
The end result of this work is what they call the deformable pig brain atlas.
"We are taking 16 pigs and averaging them, so it's more representative of all pigs," said scientist Ryan Dilger. "You can then apply it to any individual pig to see how it's different."
"It's called a deformable brain atlas because the software takes information from an individual and deforms it until it fits the template, and then you know how much it had to be deformed to fit," Johnson explained. "So from that, you can tell whether a brain region is larger or smaller compared to the average."
Johnson and Dilger said that the goal is to develop a tool for pigs that is equivalent to what is available for the mouse brain and make it publicly available. But they don't want to stop with tool development.
"We want to use this to address important questions," Johnson said.
More information about the model is available in "Brain growth of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa) from 2 to 24 weeks of age: a longitudinal MRI study," by M.S Conrad, R.N. Dilger, and R.W. Johnson, which was recently published in Developmental Neuroscience.
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First Posted: Mar 14, 2013 11:52 AM EDT
Remember the movie "Charlotte's Web?" Well, it just so turns out that a spider can't take all the credit for wits in this science experiment. Researchers believe that the developed model of a pig brain may be able to answer some important questions about human brain development.
"It is important to characterize the normal brain growth trajectory from the neonatal period to sexual maturity," said scientist Rod Johnson.
In cooperation with the Beckman Institute, they performed MRI scans on the brains of 16 piglets, starting at the age of 2 weeks, then at 4 weeks, and then at 4-week intervals up to 24 weeks.
"We have world-class people at the Beckman Institute who are pushing and developing the next generation of neuroimaging technology, so we're able to connect with them and take advantage of their expertise," said Johnson.
Matt Conrad, a student in Johnson's lab, used three-dimensional visualization software on over 200 images to manually segment each region on three planes. The software put the information together into a three-dimensional image of the pig brain. This is used to determine the volume of the different structures.
When the piglets were at Beckman for their imaging sessions, Dilger performed other tests, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which shows how neural tracks develop, allowing the exploration of brain complexity and of how neurons form. It was also possible to measure neurochemicals, including creatine and acetylcholine, in the brain, which provides a unique insight into brain metabolism.
The end result of this work is what they call the deformable pig brain atlas.
"We are taking 16 pigs and averaging them, so it's more representative of all pigs," said scientist Ryan Dilger. "You can then apply it to any individual pig to see how it's different."
"It's called a deformable brain atlas because the software takes information from an individual and deforms it until it fits the template, and then you know how much it had to be deformed to fit," Johnson explained. "So from that, you can tell whether a brain region is larger or smaller compared to the average."
Johnson and Dilger said that the goal is to develop a tool for pigs that is equivalent to what is available for the mouse brain and make it publicly available. But they don't want to stop with tool development.
"We want to use this to address important questions," Johnson said.
More information about the model is available in "Brain growth of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa) from 2 to 24 weeks of age: a longitudinal MRI study," by M.S Conrad, R.N. Dilger, and R.W. Johnson, which was recently published in Developmental Neuroscience.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone