>I'm learning how to dissect out the cortex of fetal mouse brains.
>I dissect the brains using 3cc Dumont forceps under a field microscope, and
>I'm having difficulty keeping my hands from shaking. The shaking makes
>it difficult to peel off the meninges, and often the turns the brain into
>mush.
> Does anyone know why the shaking occurs, and how it can be prevented?
>Is it likely to disappear as I become more skilled? I've tried holding
>the forceps with a lighter grip but it doesn't seem to help.
Hi, I am postdoctor and do same kind of research work.
I remove brainstem from new born mice and use vibrotme to cut brainslices(400uM). I do not feel shaking when I do operation. I think that first you should relax. More nervous, more shaking. Another thing, I think, you do not do some sport
before you do experiment. Third thing, I want to know whether you shave when you
do other delicate work. If it were yes, you should ask your doctor. One of my
collegue he has some disease. He always shake when he do operation. But he still can cut very good brain slices. So you must not worry and just practise. You
can do it very well.
Good luck with your research work.
Best wishes,
Zhongren Zhou
zzhou at cybernet.mit.edu
