Department of Anatomy, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Neurosurgery, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Anat Sci Educ. 2014 Jan-Feb;7(1):47-55. doi: 10.1002/ase.1385. Epub 2013 Jul 9.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in white matter anatomy of the human brain. With advances in brain imaging techniques, the significance of white matter integrity for brain function has been demonstrated in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. As the demand for interpretation of clinical and imaging data on white matter increases, the needs for white matter anatomy education are changing. Because cross-sectional images and formalin-fixed brain specimens are often insufficient in visualizing the complexity of three-dimensional (3D) white matter anatomy, obtaining a comprehensible conception of fiber tract morphology can be difficult. Fiber dissection is a technique that allows isolation of whole fiber pathways, revealing 3D structural and functional relationships of white matter in the human brain. In this study, we describe the use of fiber dissection in combination with plastination to obtain durable and easy to use 3D white matter specimens that do not require special care or conditions. The specimens can be used as a tool in teaching white matter anatomy and structural connectivity. We included four human brains and show a series of white matter specimens of both cerebrum and cerebellum focusing on the cerebellar nuclei and associated white matter tracts, as these are especially difficult to visualize in two-dimensional specimens and demonstrate preservation of detailed human anatomy. Finally, we describe how the integration of white matter specimens with radiological information of new brain imaging techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging tractography can be used in teaching modern neuroanatomy with emphasis on structural connectivity.
近年来，人们对人类大脑的白质解剖结构越来越感兴趣。随着脑成像技术的进步，白质完整性对各种神经和精神疾病的脑功能的重要性已经得到了证明。由于对脑白质临床和影像数据的解读需求不断增加，对白质解剖学教育的需求也在发生变化。由于横断面图像和福尔马林固定的脑组织标本在可视化三维（3D）白质解剖结构的复杂性方面往往不够充分，因此很难获得对纤维束形态的全面理解。纤维解剖是一种能够分离整个纤维束的技术，可以揭示人脑白质的 3D 结构和功能关系。在本研究中，我们描述了使用纤维解剖结合塑化技术来获得持久且易于使用的 3D 白质标本的方法，这些标本不需要特殊的护理或条件。这些标本可作为教学白质解剖和结构连接的工具。我们包括了四个人类大脑，并展示了一系列大脑和小脑的白质标本，重点是小脑核和相关的白质束，因为这些在二维标本中特别难以可视化，并且可以很好地保留详细的人体解剖结构。最后，我们描述了如何将白质标本与新的脑成像技术（如弥散张量成像纤维束追踪）的放射学信息整合在一起，用于以结构连接为重点的现代神经解剖学教学。
