Fibre Dissection and Sectional Study of the Major Porcine Cerebral White Matter Tracts.

Abstract

White matter anatomy is the basis for numerous applications in neurology, neurosurgery and fundamental neuroscience. Although the porcine brain is frequently used as experimental model in these fields of research, the description of its white matter is not as thorough as in the human brain or other species. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the porcine white matter tracts in a complex manner. Two stepwise dissection protocols adapted from human anatomy were performed on six adult pig brain hemispheres prepared according to the Klingler method. Other four hemispheres were sectioned along section planes that were chosen similar to the Talairach coordinate system. As a result, three commissural tracts, seven association tracts and one projection tract were identified: corpus callosum, fornix, commissura rostralis, the short-association tracts, fasciculus longitudinalis superior, fasciculus uncinatus, fasciculus longitudinalis inferior, fasciculus occipitofrontalis inferior, cingulum, tractus mamillothalamicus and capsula interna. They were described and illustrated from multiple points of view, focusing on their trajectory, position, dimensions and anatomical relations. All in all, we achieved a three-dimensional understanding of the major tracts. The results are ready to be applied in future imagistic or experimental studies.