64 • W.W. Hauswirth, CD. Dickel, G.H. Doran, P.J. Laipis, and D.N. Dickel 



Gross examination of the brain masses after removal from 

 the skull disclosed the external gyral pattern of an atrophic 

 human brain shrunken to approximately 'A the original size. 

 No meningeal coverings or blood vessels remained. The 

 brain was tan-gray and had a soft, granular consistency. The 

 two cerebral hemispheres, divided by the longitudinal fis- 

 sure, were identifiable, and the Sylvian fissure was visible on 

 either one or both hemispheres. Cerebellar tissue containing 

 visible folia was present below the occipital lobes. The re- 

 gion of the brain stem in all cases was amorphous and finer 



Figure 4. Magnetic resonance image, 1 cm thick, of medial 

 portion of adult male brain 57-300, sagittal section, speci- 

 men facing right. Skull removed and brain embedded in agar 

 (uniform medium gray). Brain material is light gray. Several 

 gross anatomical features are identifiable: A. occipital pole; 

 B. frontal pole; C, lateral ventricle; D. cingulate gyrus. Im- 

 ages produced by a Technical Teslacon 0. 15T resistive mag- 

 net unit. Machine and pulsing techniques u.sed in routine 

 clinical practice. 



structure could not be identified. Transverse slices of the 

 remaining material exposed parietal, temporal, and occipital 

 lobes with peat filling all fissures. Additionally, internal 

 structures such as the thalamus, basal ganglia, and ventricu- 

 lar system were clearly visible (Figure 5). The overall im- 

 pression was that although shrunken and altered in consisten- 

 cy, gross anatomical features were present. 



A more detailed analysis of tissue structure was conducted 

 by light microscopy. Representative samples taken from the 

 cerebral hemisphere, cerebellum, and brain stem of both 

 brains were processed for light microscopy. Sections were 

 stained with silver axon stain (Seiver-Munger), hematoxylin 

 and eosin (H&E) for nuclei, and luxol fast blue (LFB) for 

 myelin (Luna 1968). The silver-stained, H&E, and LFB sec- 

 tions resembled cerebral cortex and contained yellow granu- 

 lar pigment, often in pyramidal shapes, corresponding to the 

 remains of neurons (Figure 6A). The cyto-architectural pat- 

 tern was similar to that of fresh cerebral cortex tissue. Occa- 

 sional processes consisting of parallel, arrayed fibers extend- 

 ing to the cortical surface, as well as horizontal, arrayed 

 fibers within the subcortical white matter, were present. No 

 material staining as nucleic acid could be identified, although 

 clear areas the size and shape of nuclei were apparent within 

 the granular pigment (Figure 6B). Sections of cerebellum 

 contained preserved Purkinje cells arranged in the spatial 

 pattern seen in contemporary cerebellar tissue (Figure 6B). A 

 section of the pons contained the typical pattern of crossing 

 pontocerebellar tracts as well as cortical spinal tracts divided 

 by remains of pontine nuclei (Figure 6C). Cellular processes 

 in all sections were negative for silver stain but showed mod- 

 erate staining throughout with myelin stains. 



No connective tissue elements were identified with Mas- 

 son trichrome staining for collagen. Immunoperoxidase 

 staining for glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) and S-lOO 

 protein was also negative. 



Figure 5. Coronal section through agarose gel-embedded ancient brain of male 57-55 (right), and a similar section 

 of a contemporary brain (left). Although the old brain section is surrounded by peat and has undergone some 

 fragmentation, many gross anatomical structures are present. Two cerebral hemispheres and their gyral patterns 

 clearly visible. /4, interhemispheric fissure; fl, corpus callosum;C. lateral ventricle; D. insular cortex; £, putamen; 

 F. internal capsule; C, thalamus; H. third ventricle. A subtle distinction between grey and white matter is still 

 apparent. 



Zagreb Pateopathotogy Symp. 1988 



