Meeting Abstract

P2.124  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Brains of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops truncatus: Interactive Online Atlas of MRI Images and Stained Sections in the Horizontal Plane. JOHNSON, J. I.*; BUCHANAN, K.J.; WINN, B.M.; FOBBS, A.J.JR.; SUDHEIMER, K.D.; Michigan State University, East Lansing; Michigan State University, East Lansing; Michigan State University, East Lansing; National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA johnij@aol.com

This new atlas, of horizontal sections of dolphin brains, includes images of sections at intervals of 1.75 mm, in pairs of neighboring sections from the same brain, one stained for cells by the Nissl technique with cresyl violet, the other for myelinated fibers with the Loyez version of the Weigert hematoxylin technique. At each level, the stained sections are accompanied by a magnetic resonance image MRI from an approximately corresponding level from another brain. The atlas can be accessed at our websites http://www.brains.rad.msu.edu or https://www.msu.edu/~brains// Comparisons with images of brains of humans, in our companion atlas, can reveal much about the details of contrasting as well as convergent features of evolutionary radiations in these distantly related large-brained and behaviorally complex species. The atlas includes user-friendly navigational tools such that users can scan quickly through the entire extent of the brain in any of the viewing modes: labeled, unlabeled, fiber-stained, cell-stained, or any combination of these modes, and can switch from one to another at will. Our websites are premier sources for brain images currently in wide use in research, in graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 education, as well as by public news and informational media. All images on the site can be downloaded and used for any purpose without charge, so long as permission is obtained, and the source of the image is credited. Supported by NSF grants IBN 0131267, 0131826, 0131028.