Project Description
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive way to acquire high-resolution images of soft tissue structures. We are using this technology to obtain high-resolution brain images from a range of cartilaginous fishes (or chondrichthyans: sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras), who occupy a variety of habitats and are phylogenetically diverse (evolution among various groups of species). Despite their basal place in vertebrate evolution, little more than qualitative data is available on variations in chondrichthyan brain organization and the implications these variations have for evolutionary adaptations. Using specialized software, the five major brain structures (telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, cerebellum, and medulla) can be digitally segmented from MR slices and reconstructed into 3D images, providing data on structure volume, surface area, and surface curvature, which can then be compared between species
