Figure 5.

A method for whole mouse brain dissection

(A) Peel off the skin and muscles from the skull of the mouse head.

(B) Then, make a small incision starting from the bottom to expose the spinal cord and brainstem.

(C) Make two small incisions, left and right along the lambdoid sutures, and gently peel the skull away from the brain stem and the cerebellum to expose the cerebellum.

(D) After removing the skull from the top of the cerebellum, make a midline incision along the sagittal suture of the skull.

(E) From the midline, gently peel away the parietal bones to uncover each hemisphere (left and right) of the cortex. After removing the skull over the cortex, make a cut in front of the olfactory bulbs and remove the cartilaginous remnants (olfactory epithelium) to detach the skull from the nasal bone.

(F) From the midline of the skull between the coronal sutures and the cut near the olfactory area, gently peel away pieces of the skull in an outward motion on both sides.

(G) The dorsal surface of the brain should now be exposed. After removing the white matter tracts on the ventral surface, the entire brain can be lifted from the skull.