Anatomy of the brain in donkey (Equus Asinus) and examination of its transversal sections

By admin

In this research, the anatomy of the encephalon of Equus asinus, is a member of
equidae family that is in the perissodactyla subgroup of ungulata group, which has
the largest population of this family in our country was examined.
Fourteen donkeys were used in this study. Eight donkey brains were dissected.
The remaining six donkey heads were imaged by using the 1,5 Tesla spin-echoT1
and T2-weighted MR scanning method in 5 mm thickness transversal slices. The
transversal brain sections were stained according to macroscopic brain staining
method which is based on staining the substantia grisea with Berlin Blue.

Sulci and gyri on the hemisphers were quite curly in donkey brain. No differences
except for the size was detected between the brains of female and male animals.
During MR scanning, besides encephalon, the surrounding soft tissues and other
anatomical structures of head were imaged. In T1-weighted MR images, anatomy of
tissues were detected in detail. Brain was in grey tones, cerebrospinal fluid was
black, muscles were dark grey, fatty tissue was white, while bones were dark grey
and black. In T2-weighted MR images, contrast differences among tissues were
detected with high image quality. Cortex cerebri was in white tones, corona radiata
was black, cerebrospinal fluid was bright white, blood vessels and muscles were
black, fatty tissue was white, whereas bones were grey.
In the stained transversal sections, it was detected that cortex cerebri and deep
nuclei such as basal ganglia were stained dark blue but corona radiata, tracts and
commissural paths such as corpus callosum remained white.
In donkey encephalon’s average values were 370 ± 7 g weight, 135,28 ± 1,81 mm
lenght, 88,35 ± 0,62 mm widht and 68,9 ± 0,74 height. When compared to the horse
brain, donkey’s brain was bigger, proportioned to body weight.
In conclusion, with this study, anatomy of brain and its transversal sections in
donkey were comparatively examined with MR images. According to obtained
findings, it was suggested that a donkey brain was quite similar to that of a horse. It
is considered that this study will both be a refence in veterinary anatomy education,
and help clinicians in the diagnosis of pathologies of equidae’s brain and surrounding
tissue

Çağdaş Oto
Merkepte (Equus Asinus) Encephalon’un anatomisi ve transversal kesitlerinin incelenmesi · 2007 · 96 sayfa.
Danışman: Prof.Dr. Reşide Merih Hazıroğlu

BU araştırmanın devamına: http://tez2.yok.gov.tr/tez.htm adresinden ulaşabilirsiniz.