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Villegas-Gomez GA, Figueredo LF, Ramirez AD, Quiroga-Padilla PJ, Rueda-Esteban R. Macroscopic brain gray matter staining: historical protocol overview and neuroanatomy learning applications in second-year medical students. Front Neuroanat 2023; 17:1227933. [PMID: 37662477 PMCID: PMC10470058 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2023.1227933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Macroscopic staining in anatomical samples of the central nervous system is a technique that has been used for decades to achieve better differentiation of multiple gray matter structures, such as the cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellar nuclei. Staining methods are based on using the different components of the brain, mainly the lipids present in the white matter. These techniques have been progressively forgotten while computer renderings are increasing; however, as a primary exposure to surgical anatomy, stained brain specimens are considered a helpful tool. We aim to summarize different staining techniques, their principles, and their current applications for neuroanatomy learning purposes. In total, four gray matter staining protocol descriptions (Mulligan's, Roberts's, Alston's, and Prussian Blue) were performed, as well as Likert scale surveys of second-year medical students about their perceptions of the stained sections. The results showed that the different macroscopic stains for brain tissue are based on lipid and reactant interactions, intending to increase the white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) contrast. The search also showed that most staining protocols would take 2 days to develop. Efficient preservation options include submerging the sections in formaldehyde solutions, formaldehyde-free solutions, ethanol, or applying plastination techniques. Based on the student's perspective, the stained slices seem to be a valuable alternative to facilitate the study and identification of the basal ganglia and their relationships with the white matter (from 51.2 to 72% based on the Likert scale) compared with the non-stained sections. In conclusion, macroscopic staining of brain tissue continues to be a valuable tool for comprehensively studying the brain. Further research is needed to determine the efficacy of stained specimens as teaching tools.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Luisa F. Figueredo
- Healthy Brain Aging and Sleep Center, New York University (NYU) Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
| | - A. D. Ramirez
- Anatomy Section, Universidad de Los Andes School of Medicine, Bogotá, Colombia
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Kirilina E, Helbling S, Morawski M, Pine K, Reimann K, Jankuhn S, Dinse J, Deistung A, Reichenbach JR, Trampel R, Geyer S, Müller L, Jakubowski N, Arendt T, Bazin PL, Weiskopf N. Superficial white matter imaging: Contrast mechanisms and whole-brain in vivo mapping. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:6/41/eaaz9281. [PMID: 33028535 PMCID: PMC7541072 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz9281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Superficial white matter (SWM) contains the most cortico-cortical white matter connections in the human brain encompassing the short U-shaped association fibers. Despite its importance for brain connectivity, very little is known about SWM in humans, mainly due to the lack of noninvasive imaging methods. Here, we lay the groundwork for systematic in vivo SWM mapping using ultrahigh resolution 7 T magnetic resonance imaging. Using biophysical modeling informed by quantitative ion beam microscopy on postmortem brain tissue, we demonstrate that MR contrast in SWM is driven by iron and can be linked to the microscopic iron distribution. Higher SWM iron concentrations were observed in U-fiber-rich frontal, temporal, and parietal areas, potentially reflecting high fiber density or late myelination in these areas. Our SWM mapping approach provides the foundation for systematic studies of interindividual differences, plasticity, and pathologies of this crucial structure for cortico-cortical connectivity in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgeniya Kirilina
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Free University Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Saskia Helbling
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Markus Morawski
- Paul Flechsig Institute of Brain Research, Leipzig University, Liebigstr. 19, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerrin Pine
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Katja Reimann
- Paul Flechsig Institute of Brain Research, Leipzig University, Liebigstr. 19, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Steffen Jankuhn
- Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, Linnéstraße 5, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Juliane Dinse
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andreas Deistung
- Medical Physics Group, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Jena University Hospital-Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Department of Radiology University Hospital Halle (Saale), Ernst-Grube-Str. 40, 06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Jürgen R Reichenbach
- Medical Physics Group, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Jena University Hospital-Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Robert Trampel
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stefan Geyer
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Larissa Müller
- Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Norbert Jakubowski
- Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany
- Spetec GmbH, Berghamer Str. 2, 85435 Erding, Germany
| | - Thomas Arendt
- Paul Flechsig Institute of Brain Research, Leipzig University, Liebigstr. 19, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Pierre-Louis Bazin
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Integrative Model-Based Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nikolaus Weiskopf
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, Linnéstraße 5, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
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Commentary on "The Cerebellar System and What it Signifies from a Biological Perspective: A Communication by Christofredo Jakob (1866-1956) Before the Society of Neurology and Psychiatry of Buenos Aires, December 1938". THE CEREBELLUM 2016; 15:417-24. [PMID: 27230900 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-016-0791-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
This commentary highlights a "cerebellar classic" by a pioneer of neurobiology, Christfried Jakob. Jakob discussed the connectivity between the cerebellum and mesencephalic, diencephalic, and telencephalic structures in an evolutionary, developmental, and histophysiological perspective. He proposed three evolutionary morphofunctional stages, the archicerebellar, paleocerebellar, and neocerebellar; he attributed the reduced cerebellospinal connections in humans, compared to other primates, to the perfection of the rubrolenticular and thalamocortical systems and the intense ascending pathways to the red nucleus in exchange for the more elementary descending efferent pathways. Jakob hypothesized the convergence of cerebellar pathways in associative cortical regions, insisting on the intimate collaboration of the cerebellum with the frontal lobe. The extensive lines of communication between regions throughout the association cortex substantiate Jakob's intuition and begin to outline the mechanisms for substantial cerebellar involvement in functions beyond the purely motor domain. Atop a foundation of anatomical and phylogenetic mastery, Jakob conceived ideas that were noteworthy, timely, and have much relevance to our current thinking on cerebellar structure and function.
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Théodoridou ZD, Koutsoklenis A, del Cerro M, Triarhou LC. An avant-garde professorship of neurobiology in education: Christofredo Jakob (1866-1956) and the 1920s lead of the National University of La Plata, Argentina. JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE NEUROSCIENCES 2013; 22:366-382. [PMID: 23789992 DOI: 10.1080/0964704x.2012.762830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The interdisciplinary trend in "Mind, Brain, and Education" has witnessed dynamic international growth in recent years. Yet, it remains little known that the National University of La Plata in Argentina probably holds the historical precedent as the world's first institution of higher education that formally included neurobiology in the curriculum of an educational department, having done so as early as 1922. The responsibility of teaching neurobiology to educators was assigned to Professor Christofredo Jakob (1866-1956). In the present article, we highlight Jakob's emphasis on interdisciplinarity and, in particular, on the neuroscientific foundations of education, including special education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe D Théodoridou
- a Neuroscience Wing, Department of Educational and Social Policy , University of Macedonia , Thessaloniki , Greece
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Advances in diffusion MRI acquisition and processing in the Human Connectome Project. Neuroimage 2013; 80:125-43. [PMID: 23702418 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.05.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 615] [Impact Index Per Article: 55.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2013] [Revised: 04/30/2013] [Accepted: 05/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is a collaborative 5-year effort to map human brain connections and their variability in healthy adults. A consortium of HCP investigators will study a population of 1200 healthy adults using multiple imaging modalities, along with extensive behavioral and genetic data. In this overview, we focus on diffusion MRI (dMRI) and the structural connectivity aspect of the project. We present recent advances in acquisition and processing that allow us to obtain very high-quality in-vivo MRI data, whilst enabling scanning of a very large number of subjects. These advances result from 2 years of intensive efforts in optimising many aspects of data acquisition and processing during the piloting phase of the project. The data quality and methods described here are representative of the datasets and processing pipelines that will be made freely available to the community at quarterly intervals, beginning in 2013.
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW After more than 10 years of methodological developments and clinical applications, diffusion imaging tractography has reached a crossroad. Although the method is still in its infancy, the time has come to address some important questions. Can tractography reproduce reliably known anatomy or describe new anatomical pathways? Are interindividual differences, for example in tract lateralization, important to understand heterogeneity of clinical manifestations? Do novel tractography algorithms provide a real advantage over previous methods? Here we focus on some of the most exciting recent advancements in diffusion tractography and critically highlight their advantages and limitations. RECENT FINDINGS A flourishing of diffusion methods and models are bringing new solutions to the well known limitations of classical tractography based on the tensor model. However, these methods pose also new challenges and require the convergence and integration of different disciplines before they can replace what is currently widely available. SUMMARY Rigorous postmortem validation, clinical optimization and experimental confirmation are obligatory steps before advanced diffusion technologies can translate into clear benefits for neurological patients.
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Théodoridou ZD, Triarhou LC. Christfried Jakob's late views (1930-1949) on the psychogenetic function of the cerebral cortex and its localization: culmination of the neurophilosophical thought of a keen brain observer. Brain Cogn 2012; 78:179-88. [PMID: 22284580 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2011] [Revised: 11/12/2011] [Accepted: 11/14/2011] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
This article follows the culmination of the scientific thought of the neurobiologist Christfried Jakob (1866-1956) during the later part of his career, based on publications from 1930 to 1949, when he was between 64 and 83 years of age. Jakob emphasized the necessity of bridging philosophy to the biological sciences, neurobiology in particular. Thus, we consider him as one of the early protagonists in the emergence of neurophilosophy in the 20th century. The topics that occupied his mind were the foundations for a future philosophy of the brain, and the 'neurobiogenetic', 'neurodynamic', and 'neuropsychogenetic' problems in relation to how consciousness emerges. Jakob's views have many elements in common with great thinkers of philosophy and psychology, including Immanuel Kant, William James, Edmund Husserl, Henri Bergson, Jean Piaget and Willard Quine. A common denominator can also be discerned between Jakob's dynamic approach and certain aspects of cybernetics and neurophenomenology. Jakob propounded the interdisciplinarity of sciences as an indispensable tool for ultimately solving the enigma of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoë D Théodoridou
- Economo-Koskinas Wing for Integrative and Evolutionary Neuroscience, Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece.
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