Longitudinal Mn(II)-enhanced MRI illuminates altered adult brain responses to threat after early life adversity.

Motivation: Investigations into neural circuits in mice have shed light on select regions hypothesized to be disrupted after early life adversity (ELA) but has restricted mechanistic insights to those localized regions. Goal(s): Our goals were to map brain-wide activity longitudinally, as it evolves in response to threat, and to determine differences in ELA-exposed mice. Approach: We coupled longitudinal manganese-enhanced MRI with computational image analysis to examine responses of adult ELA and Standard mice to an ethological threat. Results: We report that brain-wide activity is reconfigured by ELA, and that some disruptions may emerge after subsequent experience and extend beyond hypothesized regions. Impact: By providing greater specificity for previously hypothesized disruptions and revealing novel contributions from other regions, our findings will direct future investigations into localized disfunctions and guide conceptual understanding for how condition-dependent dynamics of brain state may underly ELA-associated vulnerabilities.