A method for preparing brain casts

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Abstract
Permanent molds and casts of properly perfused formalin‐fixed whole brain specimens can be prepared in a manner that faithfully reproduces their shape, size, and surface morphological features. The method involves several steps: (a) removal of surface vessels or arachnoid tissue from fissural margins; (b) preparation of a plaster casing with a cavity of a size and shape which will accommodate both the elastic impression material and the portion of the brain to be cast; (c) pouring a silicone rubber‐catalyst mixture into this cavity in two stages, to produce first a lining, and then a rubber pool into which the brain is immersed; (d) removing the brain from the mold; (e) pouring an acrylic‐catalyst mixture into the hardened rubber mold and allowing it to polymerize to form a brain cast. Both mold and cast are durable, and repeated casting from a given mold can be carried out. Such brain casts provide a permanent record of three dimensional characteristics, as well as certain external morphological features which are otherwise irretrievably lost in a brain specimen that is to undergo histological processing, sectioning, staining, and mounting. The educational value of a comparative collection of such brain casts is inestimable.