A fixed brain is embedded in celloidin and hundreds of thin sections (25-40 microns thick) are sectioned sequentially from the block like one would in slicing a sausage. The brain specimens from which we have prepared serial sections are arranged from front to back (rostral - caudal) and are listed below. View the Atlas sections from the specimen of your choice by clicking on the section image next to each animal's name.

DIDELPHIMORPHIA

Virginia Opossum

DIPROTODONTIA

Western Grey Kangaroo

AFROSORICIDA

Tail-less Tenrec

MACROSCELIDEA

Eastern Rock Elephant Shrew

HYRACOIDEA

Rock Hyrax

SIRENIA

Florida Manatee

CINGULATA

Nine-banded Armadillo

PILOSA

Giant Anteater

Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth

DERMOPTERA

Philippine Flying Lemur

PRIMATES

	Human		Common Chimpanzee		Three-striped Night Monkey (Owl Monkey)
	Rhesus Monkey		Mandrill		Mongoose Lemur
	Common Squirrel Monkey		Gray Mouse Lemur		White-headed Capuchin (Cebus)
	Northern Plains Gray Langur		Potto		Southern Pig-tailed Macaque

LAGOMORPHA

European (Domestic) Rabbit

SORICOMORPHA

Common Shrew

Eastern Mole

CHIROPTERA

Indian Flying Fox

CARNIVORA

	California Sealion		Ermine		Yellow Mongoose
	Spotted Hyena		Lion		Polar Bear
	Harbor Seal		Domestic Cat		\Red Fox
	White-nosed Coati		Red (Lesser) Panda		Domestic Dog (Basenji)
	American Mink

PERISSODACTYLA

Burchell's Zebra

ARTIODACTYLA

	Wild Boar (Domestic Pig)		Llama		Zebu
	White-tailed Deer		Goat (Domestic)		Collared Peccary

CETACEA

Bottlenose Dolphin

RODENTIA

	American Beaver		Domesticated Guinea Pig		Sewellel (Mountain Beaver)
	Long-tailed Chinchilla		Eastern Gray Squirrel		Capybara

A major aim of our Web Site is to allow anyone to find out how the brains of mammals are constructed; what the internal architecture of brains look like, and which are the different groups of neurons that are responsible for different functions such as behavioral, mental and emotional capabilities.

The chimpanzee brain shown in the title above is pulled apart at three different planes of section and the parts pulled apart to reveal the stained sections at their interfaces.

The collections of brain sections displayed for different animals on this page are taken from different planes of coronal section from the front to the back of each brain. These sections are arranged as sets of images that have been stained to reveal the internal arrangement of either nerve cells or fiber tracts. These collections of brain section pictures constitute what are called ATLASES.

Brain Atlases are thus maps that reveal how their cell groups and fiber tracts are arranged. An atlas of the chimpanzee brain is like a guide book that shows how the chimp brain is constructed. The pages of a brain atlas of a particular animal represent the sections from the front to the back of the brain of that animal. The text in a brain atlas tells how the brain is constructed, what its different parts are, and what the parts are called or named. Thus, a brain atlas is a directory of the circuits of the brain. It can be used by anyone who wishes to understand how the brain is put together, and it helps us in understanding where different brain functions are localized and distributed.

It is important to note that the brains of all mammals have the same basic brain parts, cell groups, fiber tracts, and neural circuits. The same brain nuclei that can be identified in rats and mice can also be found in the brains of humans, horses and whales. Human brain atlases reveal additional nuclei not found in other animals. Every animal has brain nuclei that are differentially enlarged or diminished from similar nuclei found in other animals.

Study of the brain atlases of different mammals can reveal features that are unique or special to the different mammals, and thus can help us understand how differences in neuroanatomical construction of each mammal relate to functional expressions that are also unique or specialized in that mammal.

Brain atlases have been prepared for a variety of animals. Information about these various brain atlases can be found at the following Web sites:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ehceduc.html
http://cajal.ucsd.edu/Pages/atlases.html