| Summary: | Abstract A stereotaxic brain atlas of the basal ganglia and
thalamus of Macaca fascicularis presented here is designed
with a surgical perspective. In this regard, all coordinates
have been referenced to a line linking the anterior and posterior
commissures (ac–pc line) and considering the center
of the ac at the midline as the origin of the bicommissural
space. The atlas comprises of 43 different plates (19 coronal
levels, 10 sagittal levels and 14 horizontal levels). In addition
to ‘classical’ cyto- and chemoarchitectural techniques such
as the Nissl method and the acetylcholinesterase stain,
several immunohistochemical stains have been performed in
adjacent sections, including the detection of tyrosine
hydroxylase, enkephalin, neurofilaments, parvalbumin and
calbindin. In comparison to other existing stereotaxic atlases
for M. fasicularis, this atlas has two main advantages: firstly,
brain cartography is based on a wide variety of cyto- and
chemoarchitectural stains carried out on adjacent sections,
therefore enabling accurate segmentation. Secondly and
most importantly, sagittal and horizontal planes are included.
Sagittal planes are very useful for calculating oblique
trajectories, whereas, clinical researchers engaged in neuroimaging
studies will be more familiar with horizontal
sections, as they use horizontal (also called ‘‘axial’’) brain
images in their daily routine of their clinical practices.
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