Corfield Jeremy R, Wild J Martin, Cowan Brett R, Parsons Stuart, Kubke M Fabiana
Department of Anatomy with Radiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
Nat Protoc. 2008;3(4):597-605. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2008.17.
Many of the 5,500 threatened species of vertebrates found worldwide are highly protected and generally unavailable for scientific investigation. Here we describe a noninvasive protocol to visualize the structure and size of brain in postmortem specimens. We demonstrate its utility by examining four endangered species of kiwi (Apteryx spp.). Frozen specimens are thawed and imaged using MRI, revealing internal details of brain structure. External brain morphology and an estimate of brain volume can be reliably obtained by creating 3D models. This method has facilitated a comparison of brain structure in the different kiwi species, one of which is on the brink of extinction. This new approach has the potential to extend our knowledge of brain structure to species that have until now been outside the reach of anatomical investigation.
全球发现的5500种受威胁脊椎动物中的许多都受到高度保护，通常无法用于科学研究。在此，我们描述了一种用于在死后标本中可视化大脑结构和大小的非侵入性方案。我们通过检查四种濒危几维鸟（Apteryx spp.）来证明其效用。将冷冻标本解冻并使用MRI成像，揭示大脑结构的内部细节。通过创建3D模型可以可靠地获得外部脑形态和脑体积估计值。该方法有助于比较不同几维鸟物种的大脑结构，其中一种几维鸟正濒临灭绝。这种新方法有可能将我们对大脑结构的认识扩展到迄今为止解剖学研究无法触及的物种。
