Marino Lori, Sudheimer Keith, Sarko Diana, Sirpenski Gayle, Johnson John I
Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Program, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
J Morphol. 2003 Sep;257(3):308-47. doi: 10.1002/jmor.10126.
Cetacean (dolphin, whale, and porpoise) brains are among the least-studied mammalian brains because of the formidability of collecting and histologically preparing such relatively rare and large specimens. Among cetaceans, there exist relatively few studies of the brain of the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a means of observing the internal structure of the brain when traditional histological procedures are not practical. Therefore, MRI has become a critical tool in the study of the brain of cetaceans and other large species. This article represents the first MRI-based anatomically labeled three-dimensional description of the harbor porpoise brain. Coronal plane sections of the brain of a young harbor porpoise were originally acquired and used to produce virtual digital scans in the other two orthogonal spatial planes. A sequential set of images in all three planes has been anatomically labeled and displays the proportions and positions of major neuroanatomical features. These images allow for the visualizing of the distinctive features of the harbor porpoise brain from various orientations by preserving the gross morphological structure of the specimen.
由于收集和进行组织学处理这类相对稀少且巨大的标本难度极大，鲸类动物（海豚、鲸鱼和鼠海豚）的大脑是研究最少的哺乳动物大脑之一。在鲸类动物中，对港湾鼠海豚（Phocoena phocoena）大脑的研究相对较少。当传统组织学方法不可行时，磁共振成像（MRI）提供了一种观察大脑内部结构的方法。因此，MRI已成为研究鲸类动物和其他大型物种大脑的关键工具。本文是基于MRI的对港湾鼠海豚大脑的首次三维解剖学标记描述。最初获取了一只幼年港湾鼠海豚大脑的冠状面切片，并用于生成另外两个正交空间平面的虚拟数字扫描。所有三个平面的一组连续图像都进行了解剖学标记，展示了主要神经解剖特征的比例和位置。这些图像通过保留标本的大体形态结构，能够从各种方向可视化港湾鼠海豚大脑的独特特征。
