Presented in this portal are the first three-dimensional interactive digital atlas of the murine brain and skull for two genetically important strains of mice; 129S1/SvImJ and C57Bl/6J. The aim of this resource is to enhance comparative morphometric analyses and stereotactic surgical procedures in mice.

These representations of the murine brain and skull, in conjunction with the resource's development of a new, more dynamic master coordinate system, provide improved accuracy with respect to targeting CNS structures during surgery compared with previous systems. The interactive three-dimensional nature of these atlases also provide users with stereotactic information necessary to perform accurate off-axis surgical procedures, as is commonly required for experiments such as in vivo micro-electroporation.
In addition, three-dimensional analysis of the brain and skull shape in C57Bl, 129Sv, CD1, and additional murine strains, suggests that a stereotactic coordinate system based upon the lambda and rostral confluence of the sinuses at the sagittal midline, provides improved accuracy compared with the traditional lambdabregma landmark system. These findings demonstrate the utility of developing highly accurate and robust three-dimensional representations of the murine brain and skull, in which experimental outputs can be directly compared using a unified coordinate system.