The need in medicine and basic science for a sophisticated knowledge of human brain anatomy is greater now than ever before. Clinically, the emergence of ever more sophisticated brain imaging modalities and continually increasing capacity to precisely target specific sites for deep brain stimulation and focal lesions demand that neuroanatomical knowledge of the human brain keeps pace. Tremendous progress during the last thirty years in revealing details of neural connections and principles of organization of animal brains demands that the basic neuroscientist discern what these principles mean to the organization of the human brain, which is still best appreciated by careful dissection. No textbook or model can replace dissection of the human brain as the ultimate educational experience. Lennart Heimer, MD, one of the most respected neuroanatomy educators of his time, has created a practical guide for the systematic dissection of the human brain. This DVD contains two separate dissection guides. One emphasizes the technique of blunt dissection for the study of major fiber bundles, and the second focuses on surface topography, coronal/horizontal sections, and exploration of the ventricle system.

Includes complete narration text in Microsoft Word format. (Insert the disc into a computer to access.)

(Running time: 2 hr. 43 min.)

About the Author
Lennart Heimer, MD (1930–2007) was renowned in two related spheres—neuroanatomy education and research on the brain’s limbic structures.

He harbored an indefatigable commitment to medical education in the neurosciences. Both editions of his textbook for medical students, The Human Brain and Spinal Cord: Functional Neuroanatomy and Dissection Guide, are regarded as among the most lucid available accounts of this difficult subject. Dr. Heimer served for many years on the editorial boards of The Journal of Comparative Neurology and Neuroscience. His series of books on experimental neuroanatomical methods, Neuroanatomical Tract-tracing Methods, is a standard reference among working neuroscientists. Dr. Heimer’s acclaimed series of teaching videotapes and DVDs demonstrating the prosected human brain, which emerged out of now locally legendary sessions with neurology and neurosurgery residents at the University of Virginia, have been acquired by generations of students, neuroscientists, and clinicians. He was vigorously pursued throughout his career as a lecturer in university, clinic, and workshop settings worldwide.

Dr. Heimer’s research focus was the neuroanatomy of the brain’s limbic structures. Upon completing training in medicine at the University of Gothenburg, he was recruited in 1965 to the Department of Psychology and Brain Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had developed what was, at the time, the most sensitive silver method to map the pathways of nerve fibers in the brain and soon formulated revolutionary new concepts about the basic organization and connectivity of brain structures that regulate emotions and motivation. Concepts conceived in his laboratory, first at MIT and later in the Neurosurgery and Neuroscience departments at the University of Virginia, have served for more than 30 years to energize inquiry in the basic and clinical neurosciences in subdisciplines ranging from drug abuse research to neuropsychiatry. Dr. Heimer’s early work is widely recognized as providing the conceptual basis for the subsequent elaboration of “segregated, parallel cortico–subcortical reentrant pathways,” which are presently utilized as surgical and pharmacotherapeutic targets in the treatment of diverse neurological and neuropsychiatric brain conditions, from Parkinson’s disease to drug abuse, to obsessive–compulsive disorder.



Reviews and Commentary
“This is beautiful work and an important adjunct to learning neuroanatomy for medical students, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and psychiatrists. This DVD is highly recommended on the basis of its beauty, simplicity, and usefulness.”
—Andres Lozano, Journal of Neurosurgery