A standardized method for brain-cutting suitable for both stereology and MRI-brain co-registration.
We have developed an agar-embedding method for brain-slicing that minimizes the geometrical distortions which arise from handling and slicing the fixed postmortem brain. To facilitate postmortem brain-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) co-registration, each hemisphere is processed separately. We embed the fixed brain hemisphere with reference markers in agar. The block containing the brain and markers is sliced at a fixed interval using a rotary slicer. Each slice is photographed with a high-resolution digital camera. The digital images are realigned as a 3-dimensional volume via a control point-based registration method for multi-slice registration. The realigned multiple slices of the reconstructed postmortem hemisphere are then co-registered to corresponding slices of an in vivo reference MRI-volume. We illustrate these postmortem MRI-brain co-registration methods to correlate in vivo T2-weighted MRI hyperintensities in gray and white matter with underlying pathology. For design-based stereology, the volume of interest (VOI) is defined using reproducible anatomical boundaries. This method is suitable for stereologic measures of structures ranging from defined nuclei to whole brain.
Zarow
C
C
Department of Neurology, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, University of Southern California, Downey, CA 90242, USA. zarow@usc.edu
Kim
T-S
TS
Singh
M
M
Chui
H C
HC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008867:Microtomy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques / Q000592:standards; D016610:Tissue Embedding / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards