A simple histological technique for localizing electrode tracks and lesions within the brain.
Skip this unless you run intracranial research — it's a 1967 photographic hack for faster brain-section localization.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Rees et al. (1967) wrote a one-page lab hack. They snapped photos of brain slices instead of staining them. The photo showed where electrodes or lesions sat in rat, cat, and monkey brains.
No fancy gear. Just a camera, a light box, and black-and-white film. The trick saved hours of embedding and staining.
What they found
The photos gave clear enough detail for rough mapping. Researchers could see electrode tips and lesion edges without waiting for stains.
The paper never claimed perfect precision. It aimed for speed and low cost.
How this fits with other research
Picanço et al. (2018) took the same cheap-lab spirit into the 21st century. They swapped brain photos for open-source eye tracking. Both papers slash equipment costs for basic science.
Reinders (2008) built a $100 odor rotor for rats. Like R et al., the goal was to replace pricey commercial rigs with DIY hardware.
POLIDORNEVIN et al. (1963) also hacked 1960s gear. They wired heartbeats into a cumulative recorder. Both papers show engineers rigging simple circuits to grab biology data on the cheap.
Why it matters
You will probably never cut open a rat brain. If you do, this photo trick still works and costs pennies. For everyday ABA, the bigger lesson is mindset: clever DIY beats big budgets. When you need new measurement tools, think camera hacks, open-source code, or Arduino rotators before you buy the catalog version.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Histological procedures are necessary in brain stimulation or lesion work to determine the neural area which has been stimulated or damaged. Preparation of brain tissue often involves embedding and staining techniques that require specialized training, and the expense of a technician and a large assortment of special apparatus and supplies. In addition, the results of such techniques are unavailable for at least several days. A photographic method, which requires little special skill and a minimal amount of apparatus, is described here. Results can be available within minutes after the subject is sacrificed. This method has been shown to be adequate for the gross determination of lesion boundaries and electrode or cannula tip loci in brains of rats, cats, and squirrel monkeys.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1967 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1967.10-277