Hypothalamic structures of the goat on stereotaxic coordinates.

Serial brain sections of 50 microns thickness were made from celloidin embedded brains taken from adult male goats. They were stained by means of cresyl violet either with or without luxol fast blue, and the cellular and fiber patterns were examined both macro- and microscopically. Brain sections were transferred on to scanner and their images were recorded by computer. The brain maps were made with the aid of appropriate software and presented as a series of coronal graphics of the hypothalamus that cover the area from the mammillary tubercles to the level of the optic chiasm. The thalamus and the amygdala were also included. Reduction of the brain tissue during the histological procedure was analyzed by means of coronal and sagittal scanning by computer tomography (CT) imaging. It was related to the proportion of the gray and white matters in the encephalic area. The hypothalamus showed an 11% shrinkage. The stereotaxic location of the hypothalamic nuclei was estimated by compensating for the reduction rate of the area. The stereotaxic coordinates developed for goat brain were easy to apply and transfer to the computer coordinate system.