Quantification of Deep Vasculature Structure in the Mouse Brain Using Image Analysis

Overview

The cerebrovasculature plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia disease. Aging exacerbates susceptibility to these conditions due to structural and functional changes in the cerebrovascular network . This study employed advanced image processing techniques to quantitatively investigate age -related physiological differences in the cerebrovasculature of young and aged C57BL/6 male mice . Using ultrasound localization microscopy, high -resolution brain images were ac quired and analyzed. Image processing methods, including segmentation and thinning, were applied to those images and subsequently revealed significant age -related alterations in cerebrovascular structures. Notably, vascular density was significantly reduced in the cortical and hippocampal regions of aged mice compared to young mice ( p < 0.05 ). Similarly, the number of vascular branches in these regions was markedly lower in aged mice (p < 0.001). An analysis of vascular diameter distributions highlighted declines in both microvascular and macrovascular integrity with aging. These findings suggest that reduced vascular density, decreased vascular branch counts, and diminished microvascular and macrovascular networks in aged mice may result in decreased cerebr al blood flow, contributing to the development of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia . This study underscores the importance of targeting cerebrovascular changes in aging as a potential avenue for understanding and mitigating the progression of vascular cognitive impairment and related dementias. Greater Washington, D.C.