Photographic Atlas of the Rat Brain

This recently completed atlas provides a new and excellent set of photomicrographs to aid both the novice and experienced researcher who is studying the detailed structures of the Sprague-Dawley rat brain in a variety of in vivo settings. The atlas provides detailed maps and coordinates for stereotaxic surgery which includes three perpendicular planes; transverse sections are at every 0.3 mm. The authors provide two micrographs for each slice in the horizontal and transverse planes: one hemisphere shows stained cells and the other depicts stained fibers. This feature makes it convenient to examine both the nuclei and fiber tracts on a single page. The loss of bilateral information is minimal due to brain symmetry. The pictures found in the atlas are clear and striking; they are consistently of the highest quality. Structures are labeled with abbreviations directly on the photomicrographs. On the facing page is a list of the abbreviations used and their complete names. Also found on the facing page is a brief commentary of some major structures. This atlas is not only thorough in its coverage of brain anatomy, but it is also well thought-out. The introduction in the atlas includes a clear and detailed methodology section. It also discusses many of the limitations of an atlas such as nomenclature, accuracy of the stereotaxic coordinates and variations due to rat strain; the authors then explain their particular choices for this atlas. This well-written section is worth reading even if one ultimately chooses to use a different atlas for stereotaxic surgery because it points out many subtle issues which one should think about before starting experiments. This atlas is excellent in almost every respect. The authors set out to create the "ideal" atlas and have come very close to succeeding. I have but two complaints about the Photographic Atlas of the Rat Brain. The first criticism is that the authors elected to omit outlines of the structures in the belief that "major separations should be evident in the pho-tomicrographs." While many structures are clearly defined in the atlas by the stains, the contrast is sometimes insufficient in providing a comfortable level of separation between adjacent nuclei. This poses some potential problems for those who wish to study these difficult to differentiate structures and for beginners who wish to use the atlas. The second criticism concerns the coordinate system along every slice. Each tick mark along the scale by the photomicrographs …