A White Matter Atlas and Common Connectivity Space Facilitate the Pig as a Translational Model in Neuroscience

The pig is widely used as a translational model in biomedical research, but currently lacks the requisite cortical characterization of homology to be used as a translational model in neuroscience. To overcome this obstacle, we created a digital platform based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging and data-driven tractography to facilitate cross-species cortical alignment of the pig and human brain. The full platform of pig neuroimaging tools includes volumetric and surface templates, a structural white matter atlas, and the establishment of a common connectivity space to facilitate pig-human cortical alignment. To promote the further adoption of the pig in neuroimaging, other researchers can access the common connectivity space by registering their data into pig volumetric and surface template space. Doing so, we advance the pig9s translational capacity, making it a model capable of asking clinically relevant questions in neurology and neuroscience.