Longitudinal Brain Size Measurements in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice

Trevor J. Vincent1, Jonathan D. Thiessen1-3, Laryssa M. Kurjewicz1-3, Shelley L. Germscheid3, Allan J. Turner3, Peter Zhilkin3, Murray E. Alexander1,3 and Melanie Martin1-31Department of Physics, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 2Department of Physics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 3Institute for Biodiagnostics, National Research Council Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. AbstractThere appear to be species differences among the effects of gene mutations related to familial Alzheimer's disease on the brain during aging. To gain a better understanding of the effects of the Swedish mutation of amyloid precursor protein and the mutant form of human presenilin 1 on mice, commercially available mice from Jackson Laboratory were studied. Three dimensional T2*-weighted imaging was used to monitor the size of brains of APP/PS1 mice monthly, from 6 to 13 months of age. No significant difference was measured in the size of the medial-lateral width, dorsal-ventral height, rostral-caudal length or the volume of the APPSwe/ PS1 mouse brain. Faster and higher-resolution imaging methods are needed to accurately determine if small volume or shape changes occur in mouse brains with age or gene mutations.