Sheep brain dissection

By Alexandre Mueller

Fri., Nov 5, 2021 | reading time 3 minutes ⏰

The Organs and Brain of a Sheep are much smaller than ours, although they possess very similar characteristics to the Human anatomy. This means that many scientists can use Sheep Organs to gain further knowledge about the Human Body. Scientists like the Students at Blyth Downsview.

The Grade 12 Biology class demonstrated a dissection of a Sheep Brain to the Elementary Students and finished the lesson with great success. If you’re interested, below are the instructions that the students used to guide them throughout the dissection. Thank you to the Grade 12 Biology Students of Blyth Downsview for being the role models they are and giving the next generations a peek into Highschool Biology.

Internal Anatomy of a Sheep's Brain

1) Place the brain on its side, with the curving top of the cerebrum facing up. Start at the cerebrum and slice down through the cerebellum, spinal cord, medulla, and pons with a scalpel (or a sharp, thin knife) along the centre line of the brain. Separate the two parts of the brain and place them together, inside out.

2)Identify the corpus callosum, medulla, pons, midbrain, and the location where the pituitary gland joins to the brain using the captioned image. (The pituitary gland is absent in several preserved specimens.) It isn't seen in the photo.) Gently explore the sections with your fingertips or a teasing needle to observe how they are attached to one another. What is the purpose of the opening in the corpus callosum? Can you count how many distinct types of tissue you can see and feel?

3) Examine the interior of the cerebellum with care. A branching 'tree' of lighter tissue should be seen, surrounded by darker tissue. White matter, which is made up of nerve axons, makes up the branches. Gray matter, which is a collection of nerve cell bodies, is the darker tissue. If you cut a piece of the cerebrum open, you can see grey and white matter.