Fiber preparation
Various fiber strands and core areas within the brain are shown on a fiber preparation .
Procedure
In order to be able to separate these very sensitive structures from one another, the fixed brains have to be frozen several times . This creates large ice crystals along the axons and loosens the white matter . Now you can carefully expose the association fibers , commissure fibers , projection fibers , but also the brain nuclei and basal ganglia with instruments made of limewood (modeling wood for clay processing has proven itself).
The fiber preparation enables three-dimensional insights into the interconnection of the brain, which you have to laboriously work out yourself using brain slices . However, repeated freezing causes the gray matter to crumble. Brain nuclei are very sensitive, the preparation is only suitable for demonstration, not for self-study .