Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
J Vis Exp. 2021 Apr 25(170). doi: 10.3791/62030.
Use of the pig as a preclinical and translatable animal model has been well-documented and accepted by research fields investigating cardiovascular systems, gastrointestinal systems, and nutrition, and the pig is increasingly being used as a large animal model in neuroscience. Furthermore, the pig is an accepted model to study neurodevelopment as it displays brain growth and development patterns similar to what occurs in humans. As a less common animal model in neuroscience, surgical and dissection procedures on pigs may not be as familiar or well-practiced among researchers. Therefore, a standardized visual protocol detailing consistent extraction and dissection methods may prove valuable for researchers working with the pig. The following video showcases a technique to remove the pig brain while keeping the cortex and brainstem intact and reviews methods to dissect several commonly investigated brain regions including the brainstem, cerebellum, midbrain, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, and medial prefrontal cortex. The purpose of this video is to provide researchers with the tools and knowledge necessary to consistently perform a brain extraction and dissection on the four-week-old pig.
猪作为一种临床前和可转化的动物模型已经得到了很好的证明，并被研究心血管系统、胃肠道系统和营养的领域所接受，猪也越来越多地被用作神经科学中的大型动物模型。此外，猪被认为是研究神经发育的一种模型，因为它的大脑生长和发育模式与人类相似。作为神经科学中较少使用的动物模型，在猪身上进行手术和解剖操作可能并不为研究人员所熟悉或熟练掌握。因此，一个详细描述一致提取和解剖方法的标准化视觉方案可能对使用猪的研究人员很有价值。以下视频展示了一种在保持大脑皮层和脑干完整的情况下取出猪脑的技术，并回顾了几种常见的脑区解剖方法，包括脑干、小脑、中脑、海马体、纹状体、丘脑和内侧前额叶皮层。本视频的目的是为研究人员提供必要的工具和知识，以在 4 周大的猪身上进行一致的大脑提取和解剖。
