Stereomicroscopy in neuroanatomy

Abstract

The main benefits of the stereomicroscope are that it is designed in a modular motif, allowing for a wide range of accessories such as stands, eyepieces, objectives, and illuminating bases for a wide variety of contrast enhancement techniques. Often utilized to study the surfaces of specimens, the stereomicroscope frequently uses incident (reflected) illumination, permitting the observation of specimens that would normally be too thick or opaque. Translucent and transparent objects can be successfully imaged with a number of transmitted illumination methods depending on the observer’s needs, and fluorescence stereomicroscopes are being increasingly used for three-dimensional observation. An excellent working distance, ranging from 3 to 5 cm to even 20 cm in certain models, and wide field of view that these models feature, are critical factors in the observation of a far-ranging variety of biological specimens. Examples of nervous and other tissues are presented in this review, for example, retina in living fish, paraneurons in shrimp, innervation of murine heart, and YFP-expressing regenerating nerves in the cornea of transgenic mice.