Fig 1. Experimental design.

Axonal degeneration or inflammation of the right optic nerves was induced in vivo through retinal ischemia or LPS injection, respectively. Additionally, saline solution was injected into a group of animals to evaluate mechanical damage. Animals were sacrificed ten days after experimental procedures, tissue was fixed, and the brains and optic nerves were extracted. b-tensor encoding DW-MRI images were acquired ex vivo.