Stereotaxic surgery to target brain sites in mice commonly involves access through the skull bones and is guided by skull landmarks. Here we outline an alternative stereotaxic approach to target the caudal brainstem and upper cervical spinal cord via the cisterna magna that relies on direct visualization of brainstem landmarks.
Joshi, K., Kirby, A., Niu, J., VanderHorst, V. Stereotaxic Surgical Approach to Microinject the Caudal Brainstem and Upper Cervical Spinal Cord via the Cisterna Magna in Mice. J. Vis. Exp. (179), e63344, doi:10.3791/63344 (2022).