Structural and Functional Brain Remodeling during Pregnancy with Diffusion Tensor MRI and Resting-State Functional MRI

摘要: Although pregnancy-induced hormonal changes have been shown to alter the brain at neuronal level, exact effects of pregnancy on tissue level remain unclear. In this study, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) were employed investigate document structure function tissues. Fifteen Sprague-Dawley female rats longitudinally studied three days before mating (baseline) seventeen after (G17). G17 is equivalent early stage third trimester in humans. Seven age-matched nulliparous served as non-pregnant controls scanned same time-points. For DTI, diffusivity was found generally increase whole during pregnancy, indicating structural microscopic levels that facilitated water molecular movement. Regionally, mean increased more pronouncedly dorsal hippocampus while fractional anisotropy dentate gyrus significantly pregnancy. rsfMRI, bilateral connectivity Moreover, appeared correlate with hippocampus. These findings revealed modifications structurally functionally remodeled a marked manner.