Dissection of NTS without any damage is really hard thing to do. Cleansing the tissues which enwrap spinal cord is the main problem. Sometimes while the dissection, brain can be seperated from cerebellum because of these tissues. I want to dissect it with whole brain. Is there a trick or easy way to do it? Thanks in advance.
Dear Oyku,
I have been dissecting brainstem from different species at different developmental stages (embryonic to adult) for many years. I agree with you that the dissection of brainstem is difficult at the junction of the brain, cerebellum and the spinal cord. I usually use dorsal approach to remove the skull first and expose the dorsal brain starting from the olfactory region, cutting along each side. Once you expose the brain and cerebellum then the most critical part is to remove the atlas and axis bones (first and second vertebrae). First you will have to remove the neck muscles and connective tissue. Again using small scissors, cut the vertebral bones from the sides carefully- and use a stereo microscope if necessary. Continue till about end of cervical cord. Then reverse the animal and start gentle teasing the brain (rostral end first) with the help of gravity to peel off from membranes, and gently cut the cranial and spinal nerves using small scissors when necessary, sometimes they can just brake by themselves. For details of my methods and solutions see the following publications.
best wishes, Refik
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