Hoch MJ, et al. - An optimized TSE T2 sequence was applied to washed whole postmortem brain samples by the researchers in order to describe and identify the detailed anatomy of the basal forebrain using a clinical 3T MR imaging scanner. Size of selected internal myelinated pathways, subthalamic nucleus size, oblique orientation, and position relative to the intercommissural point was calculated. Via serial axial, coronal, and sagittal planes relative to the intercommissural plane, most basal ganglia, and diencephalon structures were ascertained. The positions and anatomic relationships for selected structures of interest to functional neurosurgery was exhibited by specific oblique image orientations. Only 0.2- to 0.3-mm right-left differences in the anteroposterior and superoinferior length of the subthalamic nucleus was noted. Within the sagittal plane, transverse dimension, and most inferior border, personal variability for the subthalamic nucleus was largest for angulation. Hence, for practicing neuroradiologists, the direct identification of basal forebrain structures in multiple planes using the TSE T2 sequence made the challenging neuroanatomy more convenient. Moreover, for direct visualization of these structures in living subjects, this protocol could be utilized to adequately define individual variations related to functional neurosurgical targeting and approve/complement advanced MR imaging methods that were being developed.