A novel male Japanese quail structural connectivity atlas using ultra-high field diffusion MRI at 11.7 T

Abstract

The structural connectivity of animal brains can be revealed using post-mortem diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Despite the existence of several structural atlases of avian brains, few of them address the bird’s structural connectivity. In this study, a novel atlas of the structural connectivity is proposed for the male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), aiming at investigating two lines divergent on their emotionality trait: the short tonic immobility (STI) and the long tonic immobility (LTI) lines. The STI line presents a low emotionality trait, while the LTI line expresses a high emotionality trait. 21 male Japanese quail brains from both lines were scanned post-mortem for this study, using a preclinical Bruker 11.7 T MRI scanner. Diffusion-weighted MRI was performed using a 3D segmented echo planar imaging (EPI) pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) sequence with a 200 $$\upmu$$ μ m isotropic resolution, 75 diffusion-encoding directions and a b-value fixed at 4500 s/mm2. Anatomical MRI was likewise performed using a 2D anatomical T2-weighted spin-echo (SE) sequence with a 150 $$\upmu$$ μ m isotropic resolution. This very first anatomical connectivity atlas of the male Japanese quail reveals 34 labeled fiber tracts and the existence of structural differences between the connectivity patterns characterizing the two lines. Thus, the link between the male Japanese quail’s connectivity and its underlying anatomical structures has reached a better understanding.

Functional dissociation along the rostrocaudal axis of Japanese quail hippocampus

“…By extension, cHp may be exceptionally large in these birds. This proposal is consistent with a recent MRI-based quail atlas that supports the presence of a large cHp [ 42 ]. Functionally, the idea that quail may have an exceptionally large “emotional processing” centre is also consistent with the use of quail as a model of stress reactivity [ 43 , 44 ].…”