Stereotactic Atlas

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A 'stereotactic atlas' (also spelled 'stereotaxic atlas') is a reference map of the brain (or other body regions) that assigns standardized coordinates to anatomical structures, allowing precise three-dimensional targeting for surgical, diagnostic, or experimental purposes.

'Human stereotactic atlases':
- Used in functional neurosurgery, particularly for procedures like deep brain stimulation.
- Based on MRI, CT, or post-mortem brains aligned to stereotactic frames.
- Examples include:
  - Talairach and Tournoux Atlas
  - Schaltenbrand-Wahren Atlas

'Animal stereotactic atlases':
- Essential in experimental neuroscience for targeting specific brain areas in rodents or primates.
- Common examples:
  - Paxinos and Watson Rat Brain Atlas
  - Paxinos and Franklin Mouse Brain Atlas

Stereotactic atlases define coordinates along three axes based on anatomical landmarks such as the bregma or the interaural line:

'X-axis': medial–lateral
'Y-axis': anterior–posterior
'Z-axis': dorsal–ventral (superior–inferior)

This allows for high-precision targeting of structures during surgery or in laboratory procedures.

Below is a comparison of the most cited and widely used stereotactic (or stereotaxic) atlases in clinical and experimental neuroscience:

Atlas	Species	Authors	Year	Main Use	Notes
`'Schaltenbrand-Wahren Atlas`'	Human	Georg Schaltenbrand, Warren Wahren	1977	Deep brain stimulation, Stereotactic surgery	Based on postmortem brain. Gold standard for surgical targeting of STN, GPi, Vim.
`'Talairach and Tournoux Atlas`'	Human	Jean Talairach, Pierre Tournoux	1988	Neuroimaging, fMRI, PET	Provides co-planar coordinate system. Common in cognitive neuroscience.
`'Paxinos and Watson Atlas`'	Rat	George Paxinos, Charles Watson	1982	Rodent neurosurgery, tracing studies	Most cited atlas in experimental neuroscience.
`'Paxinos and Franklin Atlas`'	Mouse	George Paxinos, Keith B.J. Franklin	Various editions since 1997	Optogenetics, Genetic models	Standard in mouse-based brain research.